Dell Inc. has come a long way.
In the company’s latest annual report to customers – its second since going private in 2013 – founder and CEO Michael Dell praised staff and customers alike for their contributions to Round Rock, Texas-based computing giant’s continued growth as both a technology manufacturer and solutions provider.
“Every day, I am amazed by the innovative ways you are using our technology to solve problems, to deliver for your customers, and to drive better outcomes for your organization and for the world,” Dell said in a video introducing the report. “It inspires us to think bigger – to act bolder and better to serve you.”
While Dell was ranked at number 51 on the Fortune 500 list before being removed in 2014, and is currently considered the third-largest private company in the U.S. by Forbes, which estimated its net worth at $59 billion USD in 2015, the company is also infamously known for a series of setbacks over the past decade, including a 40 per cent loss in the value of its stock between 2005 and 2006, and the elimination of 10 per cent of its workforce, including 900 jobs in Canada, in 2008.
As a private company, Dell is no longer obligated to report revenue or profits, though in a letter to customers, chief financial officer Tom Sweet revealed that the company had paid down approximately $4.5 billion USD in gross debt, with rating agencies increasing its credit rating.
“Our performance in 2016 was further evidence that becoming a privately held company was the best decision for Dell, and more importantly, for you,” Sweet wrote. “We drove down our operating expenses while ensuring we made important investments in research and development and sales to provide you with better access to our teams and solutions, thus enabling you to drive your business efficiency over time.”
The remainder of Dell’s report highlights customer success stories, such as Japanese automaker Honda Motor Co., Ltd.’s use of Dell hardware to develop driving simulators; corporate social responsibility efforts such as its youth learning initiative, which last year gave 415,000 children access to technology; and such statistics as:
- Dell Security blocked 2.17 trillion IPS attacks in 2015.
- The company is a technology partner to 98 percent of Fortune 500 companies worldwide.
- Its products are used by every government in the G20.
- And by each of the top 12 commercial banks around the world.
- The company serves more than 1 billion people in the cloud.
- Dell.com is the largest technology marketplace in the world, logging 500 million eCommerce visits annually or 1,400,000 per day.
- Dell has powered five of the last six Academy Award winners for visual effects: Inception, Hugo, Gravity, Interstellar, and Ex Machina (in case you’re wondering, the lone exception would be 2012’s Life of Pi).