Michael Dell
_(cropped).jpg) Dell in 2021. Photo: Village Global, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
| |
| Net worth | $141 billion Forbes 2026 list, March 24, 2026[1] |
|---|---|
| World rank | 13th (Forbes 2026)[1] |
| Source of wealth | Dell Technologies |
| Companies | Dell Technologies (founder, chairman, CEO); DFO Management |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Born | February 23, 1965, Houston, Texas, US |
| Education | University of Texas at Austin (left before graduating) |
| Known for | Founding Dell; selling PCs direct to buyers |
| Net worth figures are estimates by the source named and change every day. | |
Michael Dell is an American businessman who founded the computer company Dell and is chairman and chief executive of Dell Technologies, one of the world's largest technology companies.[2] On the Forbes 2026 billionaires list, a snapshot taken on March 24, 2026, he was 13th in the world with an estimated $141 billion.[1]
Net worth
- March 2026: $141 billion, 13th on the Forbes list.[1]
- September 2026: Forbes put him at about $258 billion, and the Bloomberg Billionaires Index listed him as the fifth-richest person in the world at about $245 billion.[2]
He owns about 40% of Dell Technologies, and his family office, DFO Management (started in 1998 as MSD Capital), manages the rest of his money.[2] In May 2026 he bought a 5.3% stake in the Las Vegas Raiders football team.[2]
How the fortune was made
Dell was born in Houston and started university at the University of Texas as a pre-medical student.[2] In his first year he began putting together and selling computer upgrade kits from his dorm room, and registered the business as "PC's Limited" with $1,000.[2] In January 1984 he saw that selling computers straight to buyers, without shops, could cut costs, and that idea became Dell.[2]
In 2013 he took Dell private for about $25 billion, one of the biggest management buyouts since the Great Recession, ending up with a 75% stake.[2] Dell then bought the storage company EMC for $67 billion, at the time called the most valuable technology takeover ever.[2]
Giving
He and his wife, Susan, set up the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation in 1999 for health and education, and have given more than $3 billion, mostly to children's causes.[2] In December 2025 they promised $6.25 billion to fund $250 investment accounts for 25 million American children.[2]
Photos
-
Dell speaking at Oracle OpenWorld, San Francisco, 2010. Photo: Ilan Costica, CC BY-SA 3.0 -
A 1984 PC's Limited Turbo PC, from the company that became Dell, signed by Michael Dell. Photo: Jeff Keyzer from Austin, TX, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0
_signed_by_Michael_Dell.jpg)
_(cropped).jpg){kind=link}
All photos are from Wikimedia Commons; click a photo for its full credit and license.
Sources
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Forbes, "Michael Dell", 2026 World's Billionaires list (snapshot of March 24, 2026), read November 3, 2026. Net worth is a Forbes estimate.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 Wikipedia, "Michael Dell", read November 3, 2026. Billionaire Wiki's text is written in its own words; facts are checked against this article and its sources.