DELL INC. was founded in 1984 by Michael Dell at age 19 while he was a student living in a
dormitory at the University of Texas. As a college freshman, he bought personal computers
(PCs) from the excess inventory of local retailers, added features such as more memory
and disk drives, and sold them out of the trunk of his car. He withdrew $1,000 in personal
savings, used his car as collateral for a bank loan, hired a few friends, and placed ads in
the local newspaper offering computers at 10%–15% below retail price. Soon he was selling
$50,000 worth of PCs a month to local businesses. Sales during the first year reached
$600,000 and doubled almost every year thereafter. After his freshman year, Dell left school
to run the business full time.