On October 6, 1997, in response to the question of what he’d do if he was in charge of Apple, Dell founder and CEO Michael Dell stood before a crowd of several thousand IT executives and answered flippantly, “What would I do? I’d shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders.”
A little more than a month later, on November 10, 1997, new Apple Interim CEO (iCEO) Steve Jobs responded, speaking in front of an image of Michael Dell’s bulls-eye covered face, “We’re coming after you, you’re in our sights.”
On January 13, 2006, after a little more than eight years of hard work, Apple Inc. passed Dell, Inc. in market value, $72.13 billion vs. $71.97 billion at market close, respectively.
• 2X: On July 27, 2007, Apple’s value doubled that of Dell’s, $127.81 billion vs. $63.65 billion, respectively.
• 3X:On December 6, 2007, Apple’s market value passed 3 times that of Dell’s, $165.66 billion vs. $54.42 billion, respectively.
• 4X:On May 01, 2008, Apple’s market value quadrupled that of Dell’s, $158.66 billion vs. $38.97 billion, respectively.
• 5X:On February 12, 2009, Apple rose $2.60 to hit a market value of $88.37 billion or 5 times that of Dell’s $17.52 billion.
• 6X:On October 20, 2009, Apple rose $11.21 to $201.07 to hit a market value of $180.12 billion or more than 6 times that of Dell’s $29.97 billion.
• 7X:On January 26, 2010, Apple gained $7.57 to $210.64 to hit a market value of $189.72 billion or more than 7 times that of Dell’s current $27.03 billion.
• 8X:On May 21, 2010, Apple gained $1.95 to $239.74 to hit a market value of $218.12 billion or more than 8 times that of Dell’s current $25.84 billion.
• 9X:On June 1, 2010, Apple gained $6.89 to $263.77 to hit a market value of $240.01 billion or more than 9 times that of Dell’s current $26.29 billion.
• 10X:In NASDAQ trading today, Apple gained $1.60 to $265.37 to hit a market value of $242.43 billion or more than 10 times that of Dell’s current $24.21 billion.
Apple is also a debt-free company and currently has significantly more cash and short-term investments on-hand ($46 billion) than Dell Inc. is worth (now nearly double, in fact).
Hello, Mikey? Miiiiikeeeeey? Cat got your tongue?
Dell’s future is as limited as Mikey’s depth perception.
See AAPL and DELL quotes via NASDAQ here.
MacDailyNews Take: We’re like Elephant Memory Systems reincarnated: Never Forget.™
We’ll revisit this next time. This one goes to 11… and 12… and 13…
I think his eyes are getting closer together than ever, the result of the target Jobs put on him a decade ago – he can see the arrow coming in ever closer dead center.
Dell, where are you?
I liked him better on The Wonder Years.
So, Michael Dell doesn’t really make news nowadays……anyone have any interviews or quotes from him recently?
So Dell’s market cap has dropped by 2/3 in the last 4 years? Brilliant.
Someone do a photoshopped version of him as golem. That would be totally kewl.
How much was due to Dell and how much due to hiring Enderle as a consultant?
And due to Kevin’s poor penmanship, his engravment read, Kevin Amold… A Mold!?
And Winnie liked this guy?
Nice reference MDN, I remember…
@loganson
Don’t insult Golem.
@macromancer
LMAO!!!!
Michael Dell is STILL retired, retread, retard, whatever…
White Box makers are dinosaurs unless they move entirely to the Asian supply arena. Doubt Michael will move everything.
Even then, they have to play for pennies in the commodity market, where someone else is always willing to sell for less.
Not hard to see this coming. Jobs recognized it earlier than most.
Is anyone looking at this?
$71.97 billion in 2006
$24.21 billion now
That is $47.76 billion lost in 4 or 5 years. At this rate, Michael Dell has less than 2 years before there is nothing left to give back. Hurry Mikey. Close the doors and shut that turd down while there is something to give back other than “I am sorry” to those lemming share holders of yours.
Maybe HP will pick Dell up with their petty cash first.
I think the real question of the day is how much Apple is worth in comparison to Acer.
… ten times what Dell has been worth. It’s just that now the stock market reflects this fact. Thanks for pointing out that Apple has cash-on-hand – unlike Dell’s debts – which isn’t figured (directly) into the market valuation.
Burrell … remember when Apple was accused of being a player in a niche market? Like that was a Bad Thing? Apple is STILL playing in a niche market – the top half of the market – and that’s what floats their profit margin. Dell is losing the battle in the damn-near-NON-profit bottom half. And the buyers just keep getting smarter.
… ten times what Dell has been worth. It’s just that now the stock market reflects this fact. Thanks for pointing out that Apple has cash-on-hand – unlike Dell’s debts – which isn’t figured (directly) into the market valuation.
Burrell … remember when Apple was accused of being a player in a niche market? Like that was a Bad Thing? Apple is STILL playing in a niche market – the top half of the market – and that’s what floats their profit margin. Dell is losing the battle in the damn-near-NON-profit bottom half. And the buyers just keep getting smarter.
… ten times what Dell has been worth. It’s just that now the stock market reflects this fact. Thanks for pointing out that Apple has cash-on-hand – unlike Dell’s debts – which isn’t figured (directly) into the market valuation.
Burrell … remember when Apple was accused of being a player in a niche market? Like that was a Bad Thing? Apple is STILL playing in a niche market – the top half of the market – and that’s what floats their profit margin. Dell is losing the battle in the damn-near-NON-profit bottom half. And the buyers just keep getting smarter.
… ten times what Dell has been worth. It’s just that now the stock market reflects this fact. Thanks for pointing out that Apple has cash-on-hand – unlike Dell’s debts – which isn’t figured (directly) into the market valuation.
Burrell … remember when Apple was accused of being a player in a niche market? Like that was a Bad Thing? Apple is STILL playing in a niche market – the top half of the market – and that’s what floats their profit margin. Dell is losing the battle in the damn-near-NON-profit bottom half. And the buyers just keep getting smarter.
… ten times what Dell has been worth. It’s just that now the stock market reflects this fact. Thanks for pointing out that Apple has cash-on-hand – unlike Dell’s debts – which isn’t figured (directly) into the market valuation.
Burrell … remember when Apple was accused of being a player in a niche market? Like that was a Bad Thing? Apple is STILL playing in a niche market – the top half of the market – and that’s what floats their profit margin. Dell is losing the battle in the damn-near-NON-profit bottom half. And the buyers just keep getting smarter.
… ten times what Dell has been worth. It’s just that now the stock market reflects this fact. Thanks for pointing out that Apple has cash-on-hand – unlike Dell’s debts – which isn’t figured (directly) into the market valuation.
Burrell … remember when Apple was accused of being a player in a niche market? Like that was a Bad Thing? Apple is STILL playing in a niche market – the top half of the market – and that’s what floats their profit margin. Dell is losing the battle in the damn-near-NON-profit bottom half. And the buyers just keep getting smarter.
… ten times what Dell has been worth. It’s just that now the stock market reflects this fact. Thanks for pointing out that Apple has cash-on-hand – unlike Dell’s debts – which isn’t figured (directly) into the market valuation.
Burrell … remember when Apple was accused of being a player in a niche market? Like that was a Bad Thing? Apple is STILL playing in a niche market – the top half of the market – and that’s what floats their profit margin. Dell is losing the battle in the damn-near-NON-profit bottom half. And the buyers just keep getting smarter.
We use Dell’s at work and (LATITUDE ES400) they have a 40% failure rate for sound cards and DVD burners. they are flimsy and cheap and they suck.
Another few years MDN might be able to the same thing vs M$’s market cap or Google’s.
If his eyes were any closer together he’d be a cyclops.
He looks so much like Alfred E. Neumann in that picture. Someone should add the caption “Me worry.”
It funny to look back and remember all the accolades once showered on Dell as the company that was rewriting how the computer industry did business. Well, they sure did. Dell almost singlehandedly pioneered the business model that turned consumer PCs into worthless commodities.
(Posted at work from my joyless Dell laptop.)
——RM
Hard to decide who is a worse CEO, Dell or Ballmer. (Should be an MDN poll).
Their lame products are so intertwined with each other on the road to bankruptcy that they are actually helping each other die off in the race to the bottom.
Interesting. As much as we all want to snicker at hubris, it’s a lesson to all of us never to get too big-headed. Any company, even our favorite, can tumble, but I believe Apple will continue to do well.
If there is a lesson, it’s that one person can make a difference, good or bad. When you consider that in 1997, Apple had 60 days of cash left when Steve Jobs returned he has led a team to turn this into thr biggest success story of the past 20 or more years.
As individuals, which path will we take?
I know he’s still about a trillion times richer than I am and richer than Steve Jobs, but such an arrogant man should be kicked in his ass for his flippant stupidity. I know he probably doesn’t give a crap how much Apple is worth, but I still hope what he said about Apple sticks in is craw. This site should publish every time Apple increases another times over Dell and send an email directly to Michael Dell so he never forgets.
I don’t want Steve Jobs to utter a word about Dell, Inc. He should just continue to ignore the company until it disappears.
By the way, close-set eyes like that mark the eyes of a hunter. Eyes of prey are always set wide in the animal kingdom. But sometimes it’s easy to stab a hunter in the back if their gaze is focused too far forward.
On this cool, drizzly, September day, I feel all warm inside.
The only thing that bothers me about Dell’s fall from grace is that Austin’s local economy is heavily influenced by Dell (Round Rock, too). Austin does not deserve Mr. Dell and his dull, boring, next-to-worthless Dulls.
Go suck on a beet, Michael Dell.
Has anybody ever seen that image of him with the target on his face? I’ve looked for years, and I’ve never seen it.
Yesterday Daringfireball noted a writer for Forbes and someone else their speculated that maybe Oracle would buy Dell to flesh out their standard business computer holdings after buying Sun, and give it to Hurd to run. Now there’s a thought.
@Burrell – you aren’t possibly the real Burrell, are you?
Karma is such a bitch, isn’t it?
How’s that “open system” thing workin’ out for ya’ Mikey?…
I love that look on his face – it looks like he just caught his wife with a MacBook Pro…
Eyes too close together – diminished depth perception.
No love from MDN, just no love!
Never once did Micheal Dell realize that his prediction would zero in on Dell instead. Apple is now in the stratosphere and Dell is in the cesspit. How ironic!
“Oh, I’ll take the high road,
and you’ll take the low road,
and I’ll kick your ass
in market value!”
Get over it MDN – we’re talking almost 13 years ago! Move on with your life …
Yo, Mikey, dim the lights in your headquarters and switch off the IT hardware. No use wasting perfectly good electricity that could otherwise power a real computer.
Dear GOD, he sho is a goofy lookin’ mutha funker !!!
lv to c AAPL is 15 to 18 times Dell within 12 Months and I think its possible. Dell might be woth 18B to 20B and if I am not wrong then AAPL shoul trade between 350 to 550 means it will be around 300B to 500B. It will have cash roughly 70B if they dont buy any big company or buy back their own shares. Even cash holding of Apple will be 3 to 4 times DELL!!!
Hello Dell guys, wake up and do something for your stock holders or wind up like Mr Dell said for Apple. That’s why people says doing something and telling something is completly different.
The key to this story is: What would (should?) Michael Dell have done if HE were the head of Apple in 1997? Closing down Apple and distributing equity to shareholder would have been a logical move — if Michael was at the reins! He’s made a fortune and a successful company with Dell but it’s a one-trick pony! It’s Steve Jobs’ vision — and those he has surrounded himself with — that has made the Apple “think different” philosophy an ongoing commercial success and turned the company into the industry-leading technology innovator! It’s provocative to consider what someone of Steve Job’s’ caliber could do with Dell and all it’s resources!
The key to this story is: What would (should?) Michael Dell have done if HE were the head of Apple in 1997? Closing down Apple and distributing equity to shareholder would have been a logical move — if Michael was at the reins! He’s made a fortune and a successful company with Dell but it’s a one-trick pony! It’s Steve Jobs’ vision — and those he has surrounded himself with — that has made the Apple “think different” philosophy an ongoing commercial success and turned the company into the industry-leading technology innovator! It’s provocative to consider what someone of Steve Job’s’ caliber could do with Dell and all it’s resources!
The key to this story is: What would (should?) Michael Dell have done if HE were the head of Apple in 1997? Closing down Apple and distributing equity to shareholder would have been a logical move — if Michael was at the reins! He’s made a fortune and a successful company with Dell but it’s a one-trick pony! It’s Steve Jobs’ vision — and those he has surrounded himself with — that has made the Apple “think different” philosophy an ongoing commercial success and turned the company into the industry-leading technology innovator! It’s provocative to consider what someone of Steve Job’s’ caliber could do with Dell and all it’s resources!
The key to this story is: What would (should?) Michael Dell have done if HE were the head of Apple in 1997? Closing down Apple and distributing equity to shareholder would have been a logical move — if Michael was at the reins! He’s made a fortune and a successful company with Dell but it’s a one-trick pony! It’s Steve Jobs’ vision — and those he has surrounded himself with — that has made the Apple “think different” philosophy an ongoing commercial success and turned the company into the industry-leading technology innovator! It’s provocative to consider what someone of Steve Job’s’ caliber could do with Dell and all it’s resources!
The key to this story is: What would (should?) Michael Dell have done if HE were the head of Apple in 1997? Closing down Apple and distributing equity to shareholder would have been a logical move — if Michael was at the reins! He’s made a fortune and a successful company with Dell but it’s a one-trick pony! It’s Steve Jobs’ vision — and those he has surrounded himself with — that has made the Apple “think different” philosophy an ongoing commercial success and turned the company into the industry-leading technology innovator! It’s provocative to consider what someone of Steve Job’s’ caliber could do with Dell and all it’s resources!
The key to this story is: What would (should?) Michael Dell have done if HE were the head of Apple in 1997? Closing down Apple and distributing equity to shareholder would have been a logical move — if Michael was at the reins! He’s made a fortune and a successful company with Dell but it’s a one-trick pony! It’s Steve Jobs’ vision — and those he has surrounded himself with — that has made the Apple “think different” philosophy an ongoing commercial success and turned the company into the industry-leading technology innovator! It’s provocative to consider what someone of Steve Job’s’ caliber could do with Dell and all it’s resources!
The key to this story is: What would (should?) Michael Dell have done if HE were the head of Apple in 1997? Closing down Apple and distributing equity to shareholder would have been a logical move — if Michael was at the reins! He’s made a fortune and a successful company with Dell but it’s a one-trick pony! It’s Steve Jobs’ vision — and those he has surrounded himself with — that has made the Apple “think different” philosophy an ongoing commercial success and turned the company into the industry-leading technology innovator! It’s provocative to consider what someone of Steve Job’s’ caliber could do with Dell and all it’s resources!
effin’ cyclops fsck!