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Sunday, October 7, 2007

Dell vs. Apple: 10 Years Later

[Originally posted Oct. 7, 2007 at Fortune.com]

It was 10 years ago that Michael Dell, speaking before several thousand technology executives at ITxpo97 in Orlando, answered a question about what he would do if he were CEO of Apple with a remark he probably instantly regretted:
"What would I do? I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders." (link)
As others have noted, Apple's (AAPL) market capitalization today is more than double that of Dell (DELL):
Apple: $140.4 billion
Dell: $62.27 billion
But don't shed a tear for Micheal Dell. According to a list of the 400 wealthiest Americans published last month, his net worth is more than triple Steve Jobs'.
Michael Dell: $15.5 billion
Steve Jobs: $4.9 billion
[Chart comparing 10 years of Apple and Dell share prices courtesy of NASDAQ.]

[Follow Philip Elmer-DeWitt on Twitter @philiped]