Dell vs General Motors: Founders, CEOs and History

Company facts

Founders

CEOs and their tenures

Timeline: Dell and General Motors side by side

1. 1908General Motors

   General Motors Founded

   William C. Durant incorporates General Motors in Hudson, New Jersey, on September 16, 1908, with Buick Motor Company as its primary asset.

2. 1909General Motors

   Cadillac and Oldsmobile Acquired

   GM acquires Oldsmobile and the prestigious Cadillac Automobile Company, establishing the multi-brand architecture that will define GM's market segmentation strategy for decades.

3. 1923General Motors

   Alfred Sloan Becomes President

   Alfred P. Sloan takes the GM presidency and begins implementing the decentralized divisional management structure and market segmentation strategy that transforms GM into the world's most admired corporate organization.

4. 1931General Motors

   GM Surpasses Ford as World's Largest Automaker

   General Motors overtakes Ford Motor Company as the world's largest automobile manufacturer by sales volume, a position it would hold for the majority of the next seven decades.

5. 1984Dell

   PC's Limited Founded

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

6. 1984General Motors

   Saturn Corporation Founded

   GM establishes Saturn as a separate subsidiary intended to compete with Japanese small cars through innovative labor relations, retail practices, and manufacturing processes.

7. 1988Dell

   Dell Goes Public

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

8. 1996General Motors

   OnStar Connected Vehicle Service Launched

   GM introduces OnStar, the world's first embedded cellular connected vehicle service, offering emergency assistance, stolen vehicle tracking, and remote diagnostics.

9. 2001Dell

   Dell Becomes Largest PC Maker

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

10. 2007Dell

    Michael Dell Returns as CEO

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

11. 2009General Motors

    Chapter 11 Bankruptcy and Government Bailout

    General Motors files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on June 1, 2009, with $49.5 billion in U.S. Government assistance as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

12. 2010General Motors

    IPO Return to Public Markets

    General Motors returns to public markets through an initial public offering on November 18, 2010, raising approximately $23.1 billion - at the time one of the largest IPOs in U.S. History. The offering allows the U.S.

13. 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.

14. 2014General Motors

    Mary Barra Becomes CEO

    Mary Barra, a 33-year GM veteran with a background in engineering and manufacturing, becomes CEO on January 15, 2014, becoming the first female CEO of a major global automaker.

15. 2016Dell

    EMC Acquired

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

16. 2016General Motors

    Cruise Automation Acquired

    GM acquires Cruise Automation, a San Francisco-based autonomous vehicle startup, for approximately $1 billion - at the time one of the largest acquisitions in GM's modern history.

17. 2018Dell

    Dell Returns to Public Markets

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

18. 2021Dell

    VMware Spin-Off

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

19. 2021General Motors

    Ultium Platform and EV Commitment Announced

    GM announces its commitment to invest more than $35 billion in electric and autonomous vehicles through 2025 and introduces the Ultium battery platform as the technological foundation for dozens of future EV models across all four U.S. Brands.

20. 2024General Motors

    Cruise Robotaxi Program Ended

    Following the October 2023 Cruise pedestrian incident and a long operational pause, GM announced in December 2024 that it would stop funding Cruise's robotaxi business and fold the unit's technology work into GM.

21. 2025Dell

    PC Brands Simplified

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

22. 2025General Motors

    EV Capacity Cut and $7.6 Billion in EV Charges

    After the U.S. federal EV tax credit expired on September 30, 2025, GM cut EV production capacity and recorded about $7.6 billion of EV-related charges for the year.

23. 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.

24. 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.

25. 2026General Motors

    Guidance Raised as North America Margins Recover

    GM reported Q2 2026 revenue of $48.0 billion and EBIT-adjusted of $3.9 billion, with North America margins back in its 8-10% target range, and raised full-year 2026 EBIT-adjusted guidance to $14.0-16.0 billion.

Acquisitions

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