MIT Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science

The Power of Vertical Integration

Michael Dell
Chairman and CEO, Dell Computer Company

Tuesday, April 6, 1999
2:00 PM (refreshments 1:45)
Room 26-100
LCS Distinguished Lecture

Abstract

In Direct from Dell (HarperBusiness 1999), Michael Dell himself tells the incredible story of Dell Computer's successful rise, beginning in his college dorm room with $1,000 in capital. Today, Dell Computer is an $18 billion company, the second-largest manufacturer and marketer of computers in the world. Founded on a deceptively simple premise - to deliver high-performance computer systems directly to the end user - Dell Computer is the envy of its competition, consistently growing at five times the industry rate, and a perennial darling of Wall Street: its stock is up more than 36,000 percent this decade, and more than 200 percent in the last year alone.

"I've long admired Dell's pioneering use of the World Wide Web. In Direct from Dell, you'll find strategies for using the Web to enhance your sales and empower information throughout your business. If you want to capitalize on cyberspace, you should read this book." -- Bill Gates, Chairman and CEO, Microsoft Corporation.

This event is cosponsored by the MIT Laboratory for Computer Science and authors@mit, a series cosponsored by the MIT Libraries and The MIT Press Bookstore.