AUSTIN, Texas — Dell Inc. founder and chairman Michael Dell formally handed over the chief executive job to president Kevin Rollins, a Brigham Young University graduate, on Friday as the computer giant raised its earnings guidance for the second quarter.
Dell, who started the company in 1984 while a student at the University of Texas, announced in March he was stepping down as CEO. The title was transferred to Rollins at the company's annual stockholders' meeting Friday.
Rollins, who also was elected to the board of directors, earned his bachelor's and master's in business administration degrees from BYU in Provo and remains an active supporter of the school. He serves on BYU's President's Leadership Council and the Marriott School National Advisory Council, where he founded and continues to sponsor the Rollins Center for E-commerce.
As he prepared to relinquish the chief executive mantle, Dell gave an overview of the company and its growth in its first 20 years. He said Rollins has been at his side helping to run Dell the past seven years.
"While I've been getting most of the credit, there is no single person who deserves more recognition for Dell's great accomplishments than Kevin Rollins," he said. "Kevin's new CEO title is as much about recognizing what he's already done as it is about our confidence in his many future contributions."
As chairman, Dell said he would be "fully engaged as ever" and spend more time talking to customers and working on new product development.
In his first speech as CEO, Rollins laid out the company's strategy of focusing on growth in global markets, selling more products and services to businesses and boosting printer sales. Rollins said the company would continue to increase its share of technology markets and raise profits.
Before the meeting, the company announced it expects to earn 31 cents a share in the quarter ending July 30, an increase of 29 percent from a year ago and two cents per share better than initial guidance.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call had expected earnings of 29 cents a share for the quarter.
Company officials said in a statement that higher operating profitability is expected to produce per-share earnings of 30 cents, with the balance of the guidance increase attributable to a further decline in the manufacturer's global tax rate.
The company said it still expects second-quarter revenue of $11.7 billion and a second-quarter tax rate of 24 percent.
On the Nasdaq Stock Market, Dell shares rose 55 cents Friday, or 1.6 percent, to close at $35.42.
Contributing: David Koenig