Michael Dell, founder and CEO of Dell Technologies, became the world’s second-richest person for the first time as a record share rally more than doubled his wealth this year.
Dell’s net worth reached an estimated $273.2 billion on Sept. 9, up about $132 billion from $141 billion at the beginning of the year, according to Forbes. That put him ahead of Google co-founder Larry Page and behind only Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
The 61-year-old billionaire had climbed to third place just a day earlier after overtaking Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, before moving up another spot as Dell Technologies shares extended their record-breaking rally.
The stock rose 4% on Sept. 9 to an intraday record of $555.31, adding about $6.3 billion to Dell’s fortune that morning. He owns roughly 40% of the company.
Dell Technologies shares have climbed more than 300% since the beginning of the year as the world’s largest server maker emerged as a major beneficiary of the global artificial intelligence infrastructure boom.
Once best known for personal computers, the company has become a major supplier of the servers, storage and networking equipment needed to develop and run AI systems.
It booked a record $60.9 billion in AI server orders in its latest quarter, generating $16.4 billion in AI server revenue and ending the period with a record $95 billion backlog, according to Fortune. Overall quarterly revenue reached a record $47 billion, up 58% year-on-year, while adjusted earnings per share more than tripled to $7.04.
The surge in Dell’s fortune has propelled him past some of the technology industry’s most prominent billionaires, including Page, Bezos, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Oracle founder Larry Ellison.
His ascent marks the latest chapter in the transformation of the company he started in 1984 at age 19 while studying at the University of Texas, with just $1,000 in initial capital.
After becoming one of the world’s leading PC manufacturers, Dell took the company private in 2013. Three years later, it completed its $67 billion acquisition of data-storage giant EMC, then the largest technology acquisition in history.
The deal greatly expanded Dell Technologies’ presence in enterprise storage and data infrastructure, businesses that have become increasingly important as companies pour billions of dollars into AI.
The company returned to public markets in 2018.
Dell’s wealth extends beyond his roughly 40% stake in the company. Much of his fortune is held through private investment firm DFO Management, while he also owns a multibillion-dollar stake in chipmaker Broadcom, another major beneficiary of the AI infrastructure boom.
Dell and his wife Susan have also donated billions of dollars. Forbes ranked them 16th among America’s most generous philanthropists in 2026, estimating their lifetime giving at $3.3 billion.
Culled from https://e.vnexpress.net/
