Markets
Michael Dell Loses Title of World’s Fourth Richest Person After $36 Billion Drop in Net Worth in Two Days
CEO of Dell Technologies Michael Dell is no longer the fourth richest person in the world, dropping two whole spots after a massive dip in his net worth this week.
The decline started on Wednesday, October 15, after a Barclays analyst downgraded Dell company stock from overweight to equal-weight, per Forbes. The $20 billion drop came as global tech stocks fell sharply across the board.
According to the outlet, investors are concerned with the company’s spending on AI, as well as rising flotation and rate hikes, after the Consumer Price Index increased to 2.7% in September.
On Wednesday afternoon, Michael’s own estimated net worth sat at $256.6 billion, placing him as the fifth richest person in the world behind Tesla’s Elon Musk, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
The drop continued on Thursday, October 15, when Michael, 61, was reportedly down another $15.2 billion as of this morning. That puts his net worth at $241.2 billion, moving him below Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and his $250.7 billion net worth.
Trailing Michael now is Jensen Huang of tech company Nvidia, whose net worth is an estimated $187.8 billion.
Of course, all of this is always in flux as Forbes reports Michael held the title of second-wealthiest person alive just last month, at $270 billion, eclipsed by only Musk.
The shakeup comes as Michael’s wife, 62-year-old Susan Dell, went viral for her appearance alongside her husband at the White House earlier this week. At the press event, the pair pledged $6.25 billion to Trump’s Trump Accounts — tax-advantaged investment accounts for U.S. children under the age of 18.
“Over the past month, as our contribution has reached millions of children’s accounts, Michael and I have heard from so many parents and kids and grandparents with these beautiful letters that have truly moved us,” Susan said during an appearance in the Oval Office on Wednesday, October 7, per USA Today.
“Children have told us that they want to become entrepreneurs,” she added. “They want to become nurses, doctors, engineers. They want to build their own company someday.”
