Michael Dell: I'll care about Dell even after I'm dead

Eponymous leader opens up on life leading Dell

Michael Dell has opened up about what it is like running Dell post-privatisation in an interview in which he claimed he is so committed to the firm, he will care about it even after he's six feet under.

The Dell founder spoke to Inc. magazine at length in an interview for its current summer issue, in which he talked about how he has led the company to what it is today.

He claimed that being versatile was essential to remaining relevant in the market.

"Back in 2007, when I returned as CEO, the core business was beginning to deteriorate, and the data was piling up showing that the things we'd been doing before were not going to be the answer," he told Inc.

"That's a very hard position to be in. It's like someone saying to Colonel Sanders, 'this fried chicken thing is no good anymore'.

"In the 90s, companies were buying servers and PCs as fast as they could. That was the biggest problem a lot of our customers had. A decade later, it wasn't such a big problem anymore.

"The point is, you can't keep doing the same thing and expect it to keep working."

Last year Michael Dell successfully took the firm he founded in 1984 off the stock market after a drawn-out battle with billionaire investor Carl Icahn. Dell said the move has given him much more freedom – something public rivals lack.

"We can be on offence all the time as a private company," he said. "We're investing aggressively in knowledge and talent and resources and we don't see our competitors investing to the degree that we are.

"If you are running a public company, you've got to deliver short-term results. You need to deliver this amount of earnings this quarter, so your investment approach is going to be modified.

"That's a very different approach than I can take as the founder-owner-operator, the ultimate long-term investor."

He added that the success of Dell will always be a key priority for him.

"When you found a company, you feel a deep sense of responsibility for it," he said.

"I'll care about Dell even after I'm dead. So this is a pretty personal process. And when you're doing what you love and it's working, you don't get tired working what other people might consider long hours or crazy schedules."