Business & Science
Michael Dell
Michael Dell turned a University of Texas dorm-room computer business into Dell Technologies, making Austin a major center of the personal-computing industry while later investing heavily in Texas health and education institutions.
- Roster rank
- #151
- Category
- Business & Science
- Subject type
- Person
- Profile source
- Published Texas Icons profile
Texas story
Life and career
Michael Dell was born in Houston in 1965 and enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin. In 1984, while still a freshman, he started PC's Limited with about $1,000 and a model built around selling customized computers directly to customers. The company became Dell Computer Corporation and grew into one of the world's largest technology businesses.
Dell's Texas legacy extends beyond corporate scale. The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation has made major investments in Austin-area education and health care, including a $50 million commitment that helped establish Dell Medical School at UT Austin. His profile is strongest when it treats him as a business-model innovator and Austin institution-builder rather than as the sole inventor of any computing technology.
Defining work
What to know
- Dell Computer Corporation
- direct-to-customer PC model
- Dell Technologies
- Dell Medical School philanthropy
Timeline
Key milestones
- 1965Born in Houston.
- 1984Starts PC's Limited while a University of Texas freshman.
- 1988Dell Computer Corporation completes its initial public offering.
- 2013Michael & Susan Dell Foundation commits $50 million to support UT Austin's new medical school.
- 2016Dell combines with EMC in a landmark technology acquisition.
Texas connections
Places in the story
Houston
Birthplace.
Austin
University of Texas startup origin, long-term corporate base and major philanthropic focus.
Legacy
Why the story lasts
Dell helped make Austin a globally recognized technology center by scaling a direct-sales computer company from a university startup.
His later Texas influence includes large philanthropic investments in health, education and community institutions.
Sources
Research trail
Cross-linked profiles