Michael Saul Dell (b. 1965) was born in Houston, Texas to a Jewish family of German ancestry. He had a mind for business from a very young age, applying to take a high school equivalency exam at just 8 years of age, working in a restaurant by 12, and earning money from stocks throughout his teen years. At 15, he earned $18,000 (more than his high school teachers) by selling newspaper subscriptions to a specific demographic he had targeted by looking through public court records. It was during his first year of university studies that Dell started to put together personal computers in his dorm room. Shortly after, he founded his company, PC’s Limited, and quickly sold some $80,000 in upgraded computers, before incorporating as Dell Computer. By the time he was just 27, Dell’s company was already among the Fortune 500 world’s largest corporations, making him the youngest ever CEO on the list. In 1996, Dell Inc. was one of the first companies to sell computers over the web, and was soon making $1 million a day in online sales. Just five years later, it had become the world’s largest maker of personal computers. Today, it has 138,000 employees, and remains one of the top tech firms and computer manufacturers. Last year, Dell Inc. completed its acquisition of EMC Corporation in a deal worth a record-breaking $67 billion. Michael Dell is still the company’s CEO, and is also on the boards of the World Economic Forum, and three international business schools. He has been voted CEO of the Year and Entrepreneur of the Year. In 1999, he and his wife founded the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, which has since donated an astounding $1.23 billion to various causes around the world, including schools and medical institutions, charities in India, Africa, and across America, as well as the IDF. Most recently, Dell pledged $36 million to his hometown of Houston for its relief efforts following Hurricane Harvey.

Words of the Week

There may be food, there may be drink, but if there is no peace, there is nothing.
– Rabbi Shlomo ben Itzchak (“Rashi”, 1040-1105)