Rollins Out As Dell Steps In As CEO
By Doug Olenick -- TWICE, 1/31/2007
Round Rock, Texas - In a late day move on Wednesday, Michael Dell reclaimed his role as CEO of the company he founded in 1984 from Kevin Rollins who resigned from the company’s board of directors effective immediately.
Rollins had held the post of CEO since July 2004 when he took over as the day-to-day leader of the company while Dell stepped down but remained active with the company as chairman of the board. Rollins had worked at Dell since 1997 in various executive capacities prior to being named president and CEO.
The company did not give any reason for the move.
“Kevin has been a great business partner and friend. He has made significant contributions to our business over the past ten years. I wish him much success in the future,” Michael Dell said in a written statement.
Under Rollins’ lead Dell lost its leadership position to Hewlett-Packard last year as the No. 1 PC seller worldwide and saw its dominance of the U.S. market erode, according to data from Gartner and IDC. The latest reports from these two research firms saw Dell fall further behind.
“The board believes that Michael’s vision and leadership are critical to building Dell’s leadership in the technology industry for the long-term,” said Samuel A. Nunn, presiding director of Dell’s board and a former U.S. senator. “There is no better person in the world to run Dell at this time than the man who created the direct model and who has built this company over the last 23 years.”
In the same announcement the company also reported that its fourth quarter and fiscal year 2007 results are expected to be below the average of First Call Estimates for both revenue and earnings per share.
Dell’s other high-profile problem revolves a potential de-listing by NASDAQ which was threatened due to Dell’s late earnings posting last year. The company recently received an extension from NASDAQ that will hold off any de-listing proceedings until March.
Rollins' resignation is the second top level Dell executive to leave in the past month. In December the company reported that Donald Carty would serve as Dell’s vice chairman and CFO effective Jan. 1. He replaced James M. Schneider, the company’s senior VP and CFO. Schneider left Dell to become executive Chairman of the Board of Frontier Bancshares.
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