Chief Executive of the Year Dinner 2001 - Michael Dell

Chief Executive, The, August, 2001

In the early evening of July 19, Michael Dell stood on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, gesturing excitedly. The NYSE is not the place you'd expect to find the founder and CEO of Dell Computer Corp., a company listed on NASDAQ.

Just as unexpected was Dell's audience: Three small girls in sequined dresses and a boy in a tuxedo, about half the size of normal stock brokers, gazing up at him from the trading floor. By day, this space is a high-tech circus, where hundreds of brokers swarm around 20 trading posts, each fed by 200 miles of fiber optic cable and 8,000 phone circuits.

That July night it was a stage for Dell, his wife, their four children, Dell's parents, and parents-in-law, as well as some 300 other CEOs and their guests who had come to celebrate Dell's accomplishments and congratulate him as he received the 2001 Chief Executive of the Year award. In between toasts Dell bent down, smiled, and tried to highlight for his children -- at least the ones who would listen -- one machine of capitalism. Mimicking an auction atmosphere with his brisk hand motions, he managed a G-rated explanation of a trading post: "You know: Buy! Sell! Buy! Sell!"

You're never too young to start learning in the Dell family. Dell himself was only 12 years old when he launched a national stamp auction that netted him $2,000. Now 36, he's the youngest CEO ever to be honored with the Chief Executive of the Year award. He's also the youngest CEO ever to head a company of Dell's size. And despite his youth, he's the longest-tenured CEO in the computer industry.

A selection committee of CEOs chose Dell from a group of finalists nominated by CE readers. In making their selection, The Home Depot's Bob Nardelli and Wells Fargo's Dick Kovacevich pointed to Dell's game-changing innovations. Autodesk's Carol Bartz observed, "Not only is he smart and runs a good business, but he's a good person."

The award was presented by the 2000 Chief Executive of the Year John Chambers of Cisco Systems, who spoke of Dell's love affair with his business. "I knew Michael was No. 1 in PCs and I knew he was No. 1 in the U.S. in servers, and I couldn't resist the opportunity to ask, 'Michael, when are you going to become No. 1 in servers worldwide, not just in the U.S.?' And you could see the gleam in his eye. He said, 'Very soon, John, very soon.'"

At a private ceremony before the dinner, Chambers was presented with a bronzed bust, or "lifemask," a traditional CE tribute created by Santa Fe, NM, artist Willa Shalit, who has molded similar masks for several U.S. presidents.

CE will present Dell with his own lifemask at a ceremony next year.

Ode to "the Best CEO in America," in John Chambers' Words

In 17 years Michael grew Dell from $6 million to its current size of over $30 billion. This was in probably the toughest segment of high-tech with the best competitors. Yet he changed all the ground rules. And the patience he has today, it's like a young person looking at something he's clearly in love with.

It's that passion that goes through his whole company. It's the ability to communicate and listen to all the individuals in his company and to his family. He's an individual who believes he can learn something from everybody he talks with. He's able to see a change in transition occur and take advantage of it. He isn't afraid to take a risk and to fail. To lead in this industry with all the changes it's undergoing takes a lot of courage, a willingness to listen to others, and then to make the decisions and move.

I personally believe Michael's the best CEO in America this year because of his ability not only to lead a company and develop a culture, but his ability to give back. He shares the same passion I spoke of last year about education and the belief that if we don't fix education in this country, we're going to leave the majority of our young people behind. And it's his willingness to spend part of his time in giving back that is key.

But it's the second point I also admire greatly. When you look at his greatest accomplishment, it isn't what I've talked about so far, it's his family. Michael, you don't realize how much it means to your family to be here, and to your children, and the fact that you'd bring them here. Kira and Alexa and Zachary and Juliette: All of them make a difference. This is somebody whom I'm proud to call my friend: Michael Dell, the winner of 2001.

The Great Experiment Pays Off, in Michael Dell's Words

I guess it's a great year to be a college drop-out. It might have been easier to win this award when our stock was increasing at hundreds of percent per year and our business was growing at tremendous rates. As we know, business is tough all over. But that's what makes this mean even more to me.

So far I have been the youngest person to lead a company of this size. At times that has presented challenges. I've had to work a little bit harder to get my points across, to get my ideas across. But it's been great fun. And I've been able to show that you can massively change business systems with new ideas. So it's especially great that you're honoring me tonight given the sort of revolutionary nature of my youthful ideas.