Dell was born in West Houston and applied for a high school equivalency diploma at age eight. He ran a mail order stamp-trading business at age thirteen and sold subscriptions to the Houston Post by telephone at sixteen. Within a year he was named salesman of the month and was earning $18,000 annually for a direct-mail campaign he had targeted newlweds. He turned to electronics in his late teens, when he began building customized personal computers by purchasing and assembling computer components from various manufacturers. According to Dell, his research on component manufacturers convinced him he could launch a business that would save users money, provide better support services, and make a profit.…
