Dell shifts base back to Round Rock
You can go home again--if you're a Dell exec. The Texas-based PC maker moves its headquarters back to Round Rock from Austin, after Michael Dell and other top dogs make the same shift.
The PC giant moved its corporate headquarters from Austin, Texas, back to Round Rock in the same state earlier this month, company spokeman Mike Maher said. Press releases began to issue from the new home base on Nov. 14. The company had relocated to Austin from Round Rock, its official headquarters for years, in 2001.
The moves had nothing to do with tax breaks, better schools, logistical support or other matters. Instead, it had to do with the location of the executive desks.
At the beginning of 2001, company CEO Michael Dell and other executives moved their offices from Round Rock to a building in Austin, about a half-hour drive away. The designation of corporate headquarters shifted when they did.
"Our executives sat in Austin," Maher said. "They always split their time between Round Rock and there."
Subsequently, the company found itself sitting on excess office space. Layoffs--the first in Dell's history--began during the first half of the year. Facilities in California were also shuttered.
As a result of the additional office space, Dell and the other executives moved back to the Round Rock campus. The space in Austin will likely be sublet, Maher said. The PC maker, he added, still maintains facilities in Austin, including a manufacturing and assembly site.
Dell has a long history in the city: The company originated out of a dorm room at the University of Texas, located in Austin.