The infant prodigy who created Dell Computer Corp – as PC’s Limited in Austin, Texas when scarcely out of his teens (he clearly didn’t give himself long enough at school to master tricky subjects like apostrophes) is gaining a reputation as a ruthless boss, reports Newsbytes. The newswire reports that another five top executives have left in the last few weeks, clearing out a division that had been built up by Graham Beachum, who was lured to Dell from another proud Texan, Tandy Corp. He was given the position vice-president of marketing and sales after when Dell decided to turn his mail-order business into more orthodox brand name. The departures don’t seem to have dented the company’s confidence and last month, Dell signed leases for six buildings with 500,000 square feet in the northwest corner of leafy Austin, with options on land adjacent to the new premises. Further signs of confidence are that the new premises will include a new cafeteria, volleyball courts, softball fields and an exercise room. And if anyone wonders why so many successful personal computer companies are clustered in Texas – there’s Compaq Computer and Tandy Corp as well – the one-word answer is wetbacks. Texas has one of the biggest pools of cheap labour in the US in the shape of Mexicans heading north to seek their fortunes, which enables local manufacturers to compete with the Far East.
