BNP Paribas vs Dell: Founders, CEOs and History

Company facts

Founders

CEOs and their tenures

Timeline: BNP Paribas and Dell side by side

1. 1848BNP Paribas

   Comptoir national d'escompte de Paris founded

   Created by decree in March 1848 to restart commercial credit after the February Revolution, with capital from private subscribers, the City of Paris and the State. It is the oldest root of the BNP side of the group.

2. 1860BNP Paribas

   First overseas branches in Shanghai and Calcutta

   The Comptoir opened branches in Shanghai and Calcutta, becoming the first French bank to build a branch network abroad from scratch, later adding Hong Kong, London, San Francisco and Sydney.

3. 1872BNP Paribas

   Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas formed

   The Banque de Paris, founded in 1869, merged on 27 January 1872 with Louis-Raphaël Bischoffsheim's Amsterdam-based Nederlandsche Credit- en Deposito Bank to create the investment bank later known as Paribas.

4. 1889BNP Paribas

   Comptoir rescued after the copper crash

   Losses on industrialist Eugène Secrétan's attempt to corner the copper market forced the Comptoir d'escompte de Paris into liquidation, backed by a 100-million-franc Banque de France advance. It was refounded in June 1889 as a deposit bank.

5. 1966BNP Paribas

   Banque Nationale de Paris created

   Finance minister Michel Debré merged the state-owned CNEP and Banque nationale pour le commerce et l'industrie (BNCI) to form Banque Nationale de Paris (BNP).

6. 1982BNP Paribas

   Paribas nationalised

   The Mauroy government nationalised Paribas, which adopted its telegraph address, Paribas, as its brand that year.

7. 1984Dell

   PC's Limited Founded

   Michael Dell starts PC's Limited from his University of Texas dorm room using a direct-sales PC model.

8. 1987BNP Paribas

   Paribas privatised

   The Chirac government returned Paribas to private ownership in January 1987.

9. 1988Dell

   Dell Goes Public

   Dell Computer Corporation completes its initial public offering and scales internationally.

10. 1993BNP Paribas

    BNP privatised

    BNP was privatised in October 1993 under chairman Michel Pébereau.

11. 1999BNP Paribas

    Three-way takeover battle

    Société Générale bid for Paribas, and BNP answered with offers for both banks. BNP won control of Paribas but failed to take Société Générale.

12. 2000BNP Paribas

    BNP Paribas created

    The merger of BNP and Paribas was completed in May 2000, combining BNP's retail network with Paribas's investment banking.

13. 2001BNP Paribas

    Full ownership of BancWest

    BNP Paribas agreed to buy the 55% of BancWest, parent of Bank of the West and First Hawaiian Bank, that it did not already own for about $2.45 billion. The Federal Reserve approved the deal on 4 December 2001.

14. 2001Dell

    Dell Becomes Largest PC Maker

    Dell becomes the world's largest PC maker by market share, validating the direct model at global scale.

15. 2006BNP Paribas

    BNL acquired in Italy

    BNP Paribas bought Banca Nazionale del Lavoro, making Italy its second domestic retail market.

16. 2007Dell

    Michael Dell Returns as CEO

    Michael Dell returned as chief executive in January 2007, replacing Kevin Rollins.

17. 2009BNP Paribas

    Fortis Bank acquired in Belgium

    In May 2009 BNP Paribas took control of Fortis Bank, now BNP Paribas Fortis, paying with new shares issued to the Belgian state and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It also bought 25% of AG Insurance for ~$1.55 billion (€1.375 billion).

18. 2013Dell

    Dell Goes Private

    Michael Dell and Silver Lake take Dell private in a leveraged buyout to reposition the company away from public-market pressure.

19. 2014BNP Paribas

    US sanctions guilty plea

    BNP Paribas pleaded guilty in New York and agreed to pay about $8.9 billion for processing dollar transactions for Sudan, Iran and Cuba in breach of US sanctions.

20. 2016Dell

    EMC Acquired

    Dell completes the EMC acquisition, creating Dell Technologies and expanding into enterprise storage, infrastructure, and VMware-linked assets.

21. 2018Dell

    Dell Returns to Public Markets

    Dell Technologies returns to public-market trading through a complex transaction involving its VMware tracking stock.

22. 2021Dell

    VMware Spin-Off

    Dell completes the VMware spin-off, simplifying the corporate structure and reducing debt.

23. 2023BNP Paribas

    Bank of the West sold to BMO

    BNP Paribas completed the $16.3 billion cash sale of Bank of the West to BMO Financial Group on 1 February 2023, leaving US retail banking.

24. 2025BNP Paribas

    AXA Investment Managers acquired

    BNP Paribas Cardif completed the ~$5.76 billion (€5.1 billion) purchase of AXA IM on 1 July 2025 and signed a long-term partnership to manage a large part of AXA's assets.

25. 2025BNP Paribas

    Sudan jury verdict

    A Manhattan federal jury found BNP Paribas liable to three Sudanese refugees in October 2025 and awarded $20.75 million. The bank is appealing.

26. 2025Dell

    PC Brands Simplified

    Dell introduces simplified Dell, Dell Pro and Dell Pro Max PC brand tiers at CES 2025.

27. 2026BNP Paribas

    Ageas partnership reset

    On 28 April 2026 BNP Paribas Fortis sold its 25% of AG Insurance to Ageas for ~$2.15 billion (€1.9 billion) and renewed their Belgian bancassurance partnership, while Cardif raised its Ageas stake to 22.5%.

28. 2026BNP Paribas

    Arval completes Athlon purchase

    Arval completed its purchase of Athlon from Mercedes-Benz Group on 31 July 2026, reaching a combined fleet of 2.3 million vehicles.

29. 2026Dell

    Record $113.5B Fiscal Year

    Dell reports record fiscal 2026 revenue of $113.5B, $64.1B of AI server orders and a $43B AI backlog.

30. 2026Dell

    $95B AI Server Backlog

    Q2 fiscal 2027 revenue rises 58% to $47.0B; AI orders hit $60.9B and backlog reaches $95B; full-year guidance raised to about $192B.

Acquisitions

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