Dell is an information technology company that was started by Michael Dell in 1984 when he was a student at the University of Texas. PCs Limited, as the company was first called, was run out of a dorm room and sold computers that were made from stock components. The young Dell soon dropped out of school to give more time to the business, and by 1985, he was producing a computer of his own design, the Turbo PC. Consumers could order the computers to be assembled as they desired by choosing from a limited selection of options. In the first year of operation, the company grossed over $73 million. By 1999, Dell was outselling Compaq and was the largest manufacturer of personal computers. Today, Dell is the third largest computer maker in the US and is number 41 on the Fortune 500 list.