Biography

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Michael S. Dell, who founded the Dell Computer Corporation in 1984 with nothing more than $1,000 and an idea, serves as Chairman (he was also chief executive officer until 2004) of the fastest-growing major computer systems business in the world.

The company is now worth billions because Dell decided to bypass the middleman, who adds little value to the products, and sell custom-built PCs directly to end users.

Thanks to this original direct-marketing approach and pioneering of the industry's first service and support programs, Dell Computer Corporation became recognized as the top vendor of personal computers worldwide.

In only 15 years, the company's sales have skyrocketed from $6 million to a whopping $35 billion in 2002. Since its first international addition opened in the United Kingdom in 1987, Dell has opened sales offices in over 34 countries, and boasts over 33 thousand employees in over 170 countries and territories all over the world.

Another of Dell's worldwide innovations is his leadership on the Web. Dell is recognized as the largest online commercial seller of computer systems, with an average of over $30 million per day in online sales. The company also redefined the role of the Web in delivering faster and more efficient service to customers.

The company's business clientele includes most of the companies in the Fortune 500 list of the top performing American companies. With the addition of Dell Computer Corporation to this list in 1992, Dell became the youngest CEO of a company ever to earn a ranking on the Fortune 500 .

The value of Dell's stock has risen almost 70,000% over the past decade and in 1999, The Wall Street Journal named Dell Computers No. 1 in total returns to investors over the past three, five and ten years.

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