Clue 1 · The Basics
U.S. technology company · large-cap · listed on the NYSE · headquartered in Texas.
Clue 2 · The Numbers
Annual revenue of roughly $90 billion, making it one of the largest tech companies on earth — yet most people couldn't name its CEO if you spotted them the first letter.
Clue 3 · The History
Founded in 1984 by a college freshman with just $1,000 in a University of Texas dorm room, it pioneered selling computers directly to customers and cutting out the middleman entirely.
Clue 4 · The Secret
The founder took the company private in 2013 to escape Wall Street pressure, then dramatically returned to public markets five years later in one of the largest tech re-listings ever.
Clue 5 · The Lore
Its founder bought the company that once tried to acquire Apple — EMC — for a staggering $67 billion, the largest tech merger in history at the time.
Clue 6 · The Giveaway
That dorm-room founder still runs the show, his last name is literally on every laptop, and the company's initials are tattooed on the chest of every alienware-gaming, XPS-toting tech enthusiast you know.