Michael Dell, CEO for 40 years, shares longevity secret
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Michal Lev-Ram Nicholas Gordon Jeremy Kahn David Meyer Lydia Belanger Emma Burleigh Sheryl Estrada Jason Del Rey Chloe Berger Orianna Rosa Royle
Michael Dell's computer company has reinvented itself multiples times and seems poised to capitalize on the AI craze.
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Fortune
Dell’s origin story is well-known in the computer business. He started selling PCs out of his dorm room at University of Texas at Austin at age 19. Four decades later, he’s still running the $79 billion Texas-based maker of laptops, servers, and more. His longevity and ability to reinvent the company multiple times over, is the focus of my just-published story for Fortune (which also covers the CEO’s epic battle with activist investor Carl Icahn, who told me he welcomes “Dell’s hatred”).

While Dell and his namesake company don’t tend to generate buzzy headlines like some of his peers, the hardware behemoth seems well-positioned to capitalize on the latest craze in technology: AI. Orders for AI-optimized servers were up 40% in Dell Technologies’ most recent quarter, and the company’s future guidance helped raise its stock to an all-time high of more than $131 in early March.

To be sure, separating hype from reality when it comes to AI is tricky business. But Dell, the founder, has done it before, repeatedly pivoting his company to meet his corporate customers’ changing demands. And 40 years after founding the PC maker, he’s just 59, meaning he’s still got many years to go—if that’s how he chooses to spend his time. (Fun fact: Dell’s long-time friend and fellow founder-CEO, Marc Benioff, says Dell has recently taken up hunting with a bow and arrow.)

So what’s the secret of Dell’s longevity? When I asked him, the founder-CEO had a straightforward explanation: “There’s a simple part of this, which is, you just don’t quit.” That—and owning 53% of your company’s shares—will do it.

You can read my full story here.

Michal Lev-Ram

michal.levram@fortune.com

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This edition of CEO Daily was curated by Nicholas Gordon.