Michael Dell is one of the richest men in the world with an estimated net worth of $23.5 billion. He is an American entrepreneur, investor, author and philanthropist who is also the Founder and CEO of Dell Technologies, one of the world’s leading technology companies. Ever since he was a child, he has been a natural businessman, taking odd jobs just for the fun of making money. He quickly developed in terms of maturity, intelligence and financial situation to the point where he founded his first company at the age of 20. Michael Dell is one of those notable figures that would-be entrepreneurs seek wisdom from. Read on to find out what makes him tick.
Michael Dell’s bio
Michael Saul Dell was born in Houston, Texas to a Jewish family on February 23, 1965. He was born to Alexander Dell, an orthodontist who was his father and mother Lorraine Charlotte Langfan, as well as a stockbroker. As a child, he was enrolled at Herod Elementary School in Houston. With his growing passion for getting into business as quickly and as early as possible, he decided to write the equivalent of a high school exam when he was only eight years old. As a teenager, he decided to invest in stocks and precious metals, mostly with his earnings from part-time jobs.
His very first calculator was bought from when he was only seven years old, he was earning some money and his early exposure to the teletypewriter was when he was in junior high. At the age of twelve he was promoted from working as a dishwasher to maitre d’. Starting at age 15, after learning a few things about computer systems at Radio Shack, Michael Dell bought an Apple II computer just to disassemble it and see that it really worked. For his high school education, Michael was enrolled at Memorial High School in Houston.
His business trip
While at school, he began selling summer subscriptions for the Houston Post. He made a discovery that saw his finances soar dramatically while cold on the phone. He learned that subscriptions are mostly purchased by those with the intention of building a lasting social and geographic presence.
That year his earnings were over $18,000, surpassing those of his business and history teachers at school. After the rise of his finances, he convinced his parents to let him drop out of college after he presented them with his company’s financial statements on July 31, 1984.
After dropping out of school, Dell followed suit. We believe that a manufacturer that sells PCs directly to customers could have tremendous potential, rather than through the presumed normal indirect sales through retail channels. A new company which he called “PC’s Limited” was therefore registered in January 1984. By May 1984 the company was incorporated by Dell as “Dell Computer Corporation”. The company’s commercial center was relocated to North Austin following this incorporation.
Dell Inc. achieved a milestone in the company’s history in the first quarter of 2001 when its world market share reached 12.8 percent, surpassing that of Compaq. This made the company the largest PC manufacturer in the world. By March 4, 2004, Michael was forced to step down as CEO, but served as Dell Inc.’s chairman on its board of directors. Despite this, he returned to his position as CEO on December 31, 2007.
In 2013, with the support of a consortium of Microsoft’s “Silver Lake Partners”, Michael Dell was once again able to turn Dell Inc. into a private company. The largest acquisition in technology history, valued at $67 billion, was Dell Inc.’s in 2015 when they acquired storage and enterprise software company EMC Corporation.
Family – wife, daughter, son
Michael Dell is happily married. He tied the knot with the love of his life, Susan Lieberman in October 1989 in Austin, Texas. Susan was an active athlete and entrepreneur before meeting Michael. She owns a fashion label, a company born out of passion alone. She is also actively involved in philanthropy, of which she is a founding member.
Susan was essentially the backbone of the Foundation, as with most of the projects the Foundation undertakes, this is largely due to her ingenuity. Together they have four wonderful children, Zachary, Alexa, Juliette and Kira Dell.
Alexa Dell, one of Michael’s youngest daughters, faced threats to herself and her family when she posted a seemingly harmless photo of her brother on a private jet with a plate of food in front of them in Fiji. The image, posted to Instagram, was created using her GPS location, meaning tech-savvy kidnappers could monitor her movements and potentially trigger a kidnapping. Although her father has been spending $2.7 million a year since 2012, she and her brother had to leave social media when the incident happened.
Now she’s back with a hint to young social media users that they should be careful about what and how they post online, as they have no idea who might want to harm them by doing so.
Wealth (income and earnings)
For a man who holds the record for buying a Michael, Manhattan’s One57 penthouse for $100.5 million (the most expensive home ever sold in the city’s history), there’s undoubtedly a lot more to offer.
Having already made money before him, rising to rank 38th on Forbes’ richest list by the age of 10, it’s safe to expect him to swoon in great wealth. Currently, Michael Dell has an estimated net worth of $23.5 billion.
Other facts
1. Dell dropped out of college in his freshman year to pursue his passion for business, particularly in the technical field.
2. Dell Inc. acquired enterprise software and storage company EMC Corporation on September 7, 2016 for $67 billion. This is an acquisition that has been called the most expensive move in history in terms of valued technology.
3. Dell Inc. officially went into private ownership on October 29, 2013.
4. Fortune Magazine listed him as the youngest CEO of a company, a list that places him among the top 500 companies in America. This was in 1992 at just 27 years old.
5. Michael received a 75% interest in the private company when Dell Inc. went private.