Based in Round Rock Texas, Dell Technologies is one of the biggest names in computing globally. Starting as a computer company in a University of Texas dorm room in 1984, Dell has evolved to become a leader in the global technology industry. A look at Dell history is a fascinating case study on how astute investment and solid strategic decision-making can fuel an organization’s success.
Our expert team at Business2Community has compiled all the information you need, from a range of trusted sources, to understand Dell’s intriguing backstory to take inspiration from.
A History of Dell – Key Dates
- Michael Dell launched PC’s Limited from his University of Texas dorm room in 1984.
- In 1988, the company went public and changed its name to Dell Computer Corporation.
- By 1992, Dell had made its way into the Fortune 500 list of the world’s largest companies.
- Having been a publicly traded company for almost 25 years, in 2013, Dell returned to private ownership.
- In a $21.7 billion deal, in 2018, Dell went public once again.
Who Owns Dell?
Dell is a publicly traded company, with around 50% of its stock currently owned by its original founder Michael Dell, and private equity firm Silver Lake Partners. Other notable shareholders include Vanguard Group Inc., BlackRock Inc., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, and Lsv Asset Management.
Michael Dell founded what’s now one of the world’s biggest technology companies as a student at the University of Texas in 1984. Dell was first known as PC’s Limited.
Dell is best recognized as a seller of electronic and computing equipment such as personal computers (PCs), servers, data storage devices, software, printers, and other consumer electronics.
Who Is the Dell CEO?
Michael Dell is the CEO, founder, and chairman of Dell. He founded Dell in 1984 with $1,000 and an innovative view of how technology could and should be designed, built, and sold.
In 2024, Michael Dell’s net worth was estimated to be over $80 billion, making him one of the richest people in the world. The only gap in his tenure as CEO was from 2004 to 2007 when Kevin B Rollins took the helm.
People ask me all the time, ‘How can I become a successful entrepreneur?’ And I have to be honest: It’s one of my least favorite questions, because if you’re waiting for someone else’s advice to become an entrepreneur, chances are you’re not one.
Growth and Development of Dell
Here’s a rundown of some of the key moments in the development of Dell from a university dorm room to a global tech giant.
1984-1988: Dell Spots a Gap in the PC Market
Michael Dell was just 19 when he founded the company that would make him a billionaire. The son of a stockbroker, Dell grew up surrounded by talk of business and economics which led him to develop an interest in business at a young age. Michael had an entrepreneurial spirit and was also fascinated by technology. When he got his first computer at the age of 15 he was quick to take it apart to find out how it worked.
Despite this, Michael’s family wanted him to become a doctor. It was while he was a pre-med freshman at the University of Texas in 1984 that Michael launched his first technology company, PC’s Limited.
At that time, the only option for buying computer equipment was at retail stores with very limited customization available. Working out of his dorm room, Michael set about buying unsold IBM personal computer systems from retailers at cost price, adding additional functionality, and selling them via mail order and telephone at a significant discount to store prices.
In 1985, the company launched the Turbo PC, its first own-brand personal computer. It was priced dramatically under IBM’s PC, which would set shoppers back $2,000 (close to $6,000 when accounting for inflation). Dell went on to register the business with the State of Texas to allow him to advertise and bid for contracts.
“Every breakthrough business idea begins with solving a common problem. The bigger the problem, the bigger the opportunity. I discovered a big one when I took apart an IBM PC. I made two interesting discoveries: The components were all manufactured by other companies and the system that retailed for $3,000 cost about $600 in parts. I knew there had to be a better way,” Dell has said.
That was the end of the Dell family’s medical dreams, as Michael left college at the end of his first year to pursue his growing business venture full-time.
Dell’s success was linked to his innovative business model and supply chain approach. He purchased parts as orders were placed and didn’t take advance orders, only putting together computers intended for immediate delivery. This meant he had no stock inventory and so had significantly lower operating costs than his competitors. Dell passed these savings on to the company’s customers, making his prices enormously competitive.
As PC’s Limited’s success grew exponentially, Michel Dell was able to place demands upon his suppliers, such as maintaining warehouses near his factories. This enabled him to process orders at pace while continuing to avoid the cost of storing unsold parts.
By 1987, the business had a strong share of the mail-order PC market, but Michael had bigger ambitions. He hired a marketing company and began to target larger businesses and expand the company’s reseller network.
1988-1996: Dell Computer Corporation Goes Public
In 1988, PC’s Limited became Dell Computer Corporation, and, aged just 23, Michael Dell took the company public. Dell Computer Corporation raised $30 million in its initial public offering, valuing the company at around $85 million.
Using this capital, Dell began expanding globally. He opened Dell’s first international operations in the UK, followed by a manufacturing facility in Ireland to improve its access to customers in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. This was followed by many other manufacturing facilities, partnerships, and subsidiary businesses across the globe.
That said, the late 80s were not without challenges for Dell Computer Corporation. The company faced fierce competition from Japanese manufacturers and Dell used almost all the money raised from its stock offering in its expansion efforts, leaving very little spare cash.
Dell responded to the increase in competition by raising the technical merits of its computers, hiring Glenn Henry, a former IBM computer scientist to drive forward its product research and development. Notebook computers became the fastest-growing sector of the PC market during the early 1990s and Dell introduced its first notebook in 1991.
By 1992, Dell Computer Corporation had made its way into the Fortune 500 list of the world’s largest companies. This made Michael Dell, at the age of 27, the youngest-ever CEO to head up one of the Fortune 500.
1996-2004: Dell Leads the Internet Revolution
Dell also led the way in online commerce. While many in the business community remained skeptical about selling products over the internet, the company launched Dell.com in 1996. The site was hitting daily sales of $1 million within just six months. By the end of the 1990s, Dell was achieving online sales of $18 million a day.
Building on this success, Dell launched Gigabuys.com, an online superstore for computer products, in 1999. Through the store, Dell began selling cheap computer hardware, software, and accessories from different companies. The company continued to sell Dell computers on its own website.
Around the turn of the new millennium, the global PC industry found itself in a slump. Dell responded with a price war and, by 2001, it became the number one computer systems provider in the world.
Dell began to expand its product offer to include network servers, storage systems, IT support services, home entertainment systems, and consumer electronics. In 2001, Dell Inc. signed a multi-billion dollar deal with storage leader EMC to provide more affordable enterprise-class storage solutions for its customers.
While most internet and computing companies totally crumbled in the infamous dotcom bubble crash, Dell managed to cut its fat and continue to dominate the market.
Dell managed to stay profitable during the period, in part thanks to an aggressive cost-cutting program. The company laid off almost 6,000 people in 2001. However, the downturn in the market also spawned a more suitable competitor for Dell when Hewlett-Packard (HP) acquired the personal computer business Compaq in 2002.
In recognition of this shift away from being solely a computer company, in 2003 stockholders approved a name change to simply Dell Inc. Seeking new revenue streams, Dell Inc. diversified further during the 00s. In 2002, Dell released its Axim range of personal digital assistants (PDAs) and introduced Dell printers in 2003 which were aimed at both businesses and consumers.
Also in 2003, Dell moved into the competitive consumer electronics sector with LCD TVs, digital music players, and an online music service.
2004-2012: Michael Dell Steps Down but Makes a Quick Comeback
Dell’s diversification strategy worked. Net income in 2004 increased by 25%, hitting $2.65 billion, with revenue of $41.44 billion. Also in 2004, Michael Dell, the longest-serving CEO of any major US computer company, stepped down and was succeeded by long-term partner Kevin B Rollins. Dell continued to serve as chairman of the board.
Dell dropped down to second place in the personal computer market behind Hewlett-Packard. In 2007, just three years after stepping down, Michael Dell was reinstated as CEO and quickly set about reclaiming Dell Inc.’s market-leading position. By the end of the year, the company released the most powerful notebook computer on the market, the Inspiron 8000.
Dell also saw an opportunity to move away from direct sales online and via telephone and the company began to sell computers in national retail chains. It also made aggressive strides into the expansive Chinese market and began to shift its reliance on Microsoft Windows software and Intel microprocessors to use other operating systems.
2012-Present: Shifting Consumer Trends Drive More Ownership Changes
The global financial crisis of 2008 hit all manufacturers hard – and Dell was no exception. What followed was a difficult period in Dell history.
As the economy began to recover, there was a shift in consumer spending trends, with more money being spent on smartphones and tablets than on traditional personal computers. In 2012, global PC sales fell for the first time in more than 10 years. Dell and its industry peers such as Hewlett-Packard, Intel, and Microsoft all felt the squeeze.
Having been a publicly traded company for almost 25 years, in 2013, Michael Dell decided to take Dell Inc. private again. The company’s shareholders accepted a $24.8 billion offer from Dell and the private equity firm Silver Lake Partners. It was reported that Microsoft lent $2 billion to the new owners. Michael retained a 16% stake in the company.
Michael Dell said at the time, “I believe this transaction will open an exciting new chapter for Dell, our customers and team members. We can deliver immediate value to stockholders, while we continue the execution of our long-term strategy and focus on delivering best-in-class solutions to our customers as a private enterprise.”
In 2015, the new owners made a bold move to buy Dell’s long-term partner, computer data storage provider EMC. Hailed as one of the biggest mergers in the history of the technology industry, Dell offered up around $67 billion. Michael Dell became Chairman and CEO of the combined companies, renamed Dell Technologies. The company now had significant industry power across network servers, data storage systems, software, PCs, and mobile devices.
In 2018, Dell Technologies went public again with a $21.7 billion deal, in 2018. Michael Dell and Silver Lake Partners kept a controlling interest in the business. The new structure was designed to enable its leaders to expand Dell Technologies into new product areas, such as connected devices and AI.
The company’s earlier acquisition of EMC paid off in 2023 when VMware, in which EMC owned an 81% stake, was sold for $92 billion. This of course wasn’t a happy accident. It was the result of the owners’ strategic decision-making and astute investment strategy over many years.
Dell Stock Split History
Dell Technologies has had two stock splits since going public in 2018.
The most recent split took place in November 2021 with a ratio of 1.973:1. The previous stock split happened in December 2018 and then the ratio was 1.806:1.
In its previous stint on the stock market, Dell made several stock splits.
- April 1992 – 3:2
- October 1995 – 2:1
- December 1996 – 2:1
- July 1997 – 2:1
- March 1998 – 2:1
- September 1998 – 2:1
- March 1999 – 2:1
History of the Dell Logo
While Dell’s logo hasn’t changed much over the decades, it has seen some subtle typeface and style updates. It has had five main versions.
- 1984: The first logo shows Dell’s original name, PC’s Limited. It’s black and white with a small icon that resembles a microcircuit to show that it was a computer company.
- 1987: When PC’s Limited became Dell the company needed a new logo. This version introduces the blue color we see in later versions of the logo.
- 1989: The font is bolder and the black typeface has been removed to use only the recognizable blue color. In an effort to make the logo unique, the E is tilted slightly to the left.
- 2010: Here the typeface is the same as previously but the designers have added a circular frame.
- 2016: After Dell acquired EMC, the company revisited the logo design to include thinner lines and a thinner frame giving it a sleeker appearance.
The Future of Dell
Dell’s first four decades impart a multitude of lessons, showing the power of strategic planning, good decision-making, and astute investment. But what does the future hold for the Round Rock tech giant?
The technology landscape has never moved as fast as it has over recent years. To continue its success Dell will need to keep expanding its reach into growing areas of technology such as 5G, cloud computing, cyber security, and AI. These trends have all been accelerated by our changing lifestyles and working practices after the COVID-19 pandemic, and are likely to have an important impact over the coming years.
Dell vice chairman and co-chief operating officer Jeff Clarke said:
“The technological innovation that drives human progress is accelerating. With hyperconnectivity spanning multiple cloud environments and the edge, we now have data everywhere. Simply put, it’s growing not only in quantity, but in value every day.”
For example, in 2023, the company announced its new Generative AI Solutions which work across IT infrastructure, PCs, and professional services. These solutions are designed to help organizations simplify the process of adopting AI to securely transform and achieve better results.
In the same year, Dell posted record full-year operating income of $5.8 billion, up 24%. And so it looks like Dell is succeeding in maintaining its leading position in the tech industry.