Dell

Dell is a major manufacturer of personal computers, mainly PC compatibles running Microsoft Windows. The company was founded on February 1, 1984 in the dorm room of Michael Dell while he was a student at the University of Texas at Austin.

History with Steve Jobs
Michael Dell and Apple co-founder Steve Jobs were known for trading insults. When asked about what he would do with Apple when it was struggling in the 90s, Dell answered: "I'd shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders." Jobs ridiculed Dell for producing "un-innovative beige boxes". On November 10, 1997, having recently been appointed interim CEO of Apple, Jobs announced the Apple online store, which offered build-to-order options in a similar manner as Dell's website. Jobs then openly stated to Dell: "We’re coming after you, you’re in our sights." Dell later stated that he respected Jobs' actions to motivate Apple employees, "I probably would've done much the same thing if I was in his position. When the company you started is fighting for its life, you do whatever it takes."

While Apple was developing a version of Mac OS X to support Intel processors in the early 2000s, Jobs quietly approached Dell about the possibility of having it run on Dell's PCs. However, Dell said that he declined due to the royalty cost and being unable to secure a guarantee that his company would always have access to Apple's operating system in the future.

When Apple's surpassed that of Dell in January 2006, Jobs emailed employees that he "thought it was worth a moment of reflection today". Around the time of Jobs' passing in 2011, Apple was worth over 14 times the market value of Dell.