Tech billionaire Michael Dell’s net worth climbed 2% Wednesday morning and pushed his valuation to a whopping $273.2 billion, according to Forbes estimates, making him the second-wealthiest person in the world for the first time ever as he overtakes Alphabet co-founder Larry Page.
Key Facts
- Dell, who reached the No. 3 spot on Tuesday after a $4.6 billion climb, now trails only Tesla chief Elon Musk ($942 billion).
- Shares of Dell Technologies, of which Dell still personally owns about 40%, rose 4% Wednesday morning to reach an all-time high of $555.31.
- The rise sent Dell’s personal net worth up about 2.36%, or $6.3 billion.
- At the same time, Page’s valuation dropped about 2.7% Wednesday morning and his net worth fell to $270.3 billion, making room for Dell’s rise to the No. 2 spot.
- Dell’s net worth has more than doubled this year as his company, which he founded at 19 years old in 1984, emerged as a core provider of artificial intelligence data center infrastructure.
Big Number
94%. That’s how much Dell’s net worth has increased since January of 2026, when Forbes estimated he was worth about $141 billion.
Key Background
Dell Technologies has, in recent years, transformed from a personal computer maker into a primary hardware provider for AI. Demand for high performance, AI-optimized server racks and data storage infrastructure has skyrocketed, and Dell’s stock price has risen right along with it. The company has reported record revenue and shares have soared 327% since the start of the year, when they were priced around the $128 mark. Michael Dell holds a roughly 40% stake in the company and has much of his fortune wrapped up in his private investment firm DFO Management, which invests in hotels and liquid corporate credit. He also owns a multi-billion-dollar stake in Broadcom, another major winner of the AI hardware push.
Forbes Valuation
Dell, at $273.2 billion Wednesday morning, is now richer than Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Google’s Page and Sergey Brin, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and Oracle’s Larry Ellison.
Surprising Fact
Dell is also among the most philanthropic people in the world. Michael and Susan Dell ranked No. 16 on Forbes’ list of most generous givers in 2026 with $3.3 billion donated in their lifetimes. Most recently, they committed $6.25 billion to seed 25 million investment accounts for children and donated $750 million to fund a new hospital and research campus at the University of Texas at Austin, where Dell was a student when he founded his namesake company.
This story was originally published on forbes.com and all figures are in USD.
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