Dell founder quits chief exec role

BILLIONAIRE Michael Dell, founder of the computer giant that bears his name, has become the latest corporate chief to bow to the wave of governance reform sweeping America that calls for a split between the roles of chairman and chief executive.

A day after Walt Disney chief Michael Eisner was forced to relinquish the role of chairman, Dell chose to give up the job of chief executive while remaining chairman.

The new chief executive will be current president Kevin Rollins. Dell's founder is focusing on customer trends and research and development, the company said, while Rollins will concentrate on corporate development and strategy execution.

Dell founded his company while a student 20 years ago, and it is now the second-biggest computer maker after Hewlett-Packard. The founder has a personal fortune of $13bn (£7.1bn).

Tech companies are in the forefront of corporate governance reforms as their powerful founders grow older and decide to withdraw from the daily pressures of running their companies.

Bill Gates stepped aside some time ago to allow Steve Balmer to run the day-to-day operations of Microsoft while he focused on development and strategy. Oracle's Larry Ellison-also gave up the dual role of chairman and chief executive.

Pressure to split the two jobs has come increasingly from powerful shareholders such as Calpers, the California state employees' pension fund.

Calpers was instrumental in forcing Eisner to step down as Walt Disney chief executive but wants to go further by getting rid of him altogether.