Michael Dell’s net worth tumbled by more than $20 billion on Wednesday following a sharp decline in Dell Technologies’ shares, pushing him down to the fifth spot among the world’s wealthiest individuals.
The drop marked Dell Technologies’ steepest intraday decline since July, triggered by Barclays’ downgrade of the stock from ‘overweight’ to ‘equal-weight’ ahead of the opening bell. Shares of the hardware and server maker were down 11.1% shortly before market close, triggering a major erosion in the founder’s fortune.
According to Forbes estimates, Michael Dell’s net worth stood at $256.6 billion following Wednesday’s slide. The drop places him just behind Alphabet co-founder Sergey Brin, whose own wealth declined by around $4 billion to $262.3 billion as Alphabet shares slipped during the session.
The decline represents a step down from last month, when Dell briefly became the world’s second-richest person, behind , after his net worth surpassed $270 billion.
Tight race for the Top 5
Dell now holds a slim lead over Meta founder for the fifth position on the global wealth index. Zuckerberg’s net worth stood at an estimated $253.1 billion on Wednesday afternoon.
AI server demand vs. Broader market sell-off
Dell Technologies has been a major beneficiary of the artificial intelligence boom, driven by surging demand for its high-performance servers and data center infrastructure. Michael Dell retains an estimated 40% stake in the tech giant he established in the 1980s.
Wednesday’s drop in the stock also mirrored a broader Wall Street sell-off. US equity benchmarks fell after the Bureau of Labour Statistics released hotter-than-expected inflation data.
Shortly before close, the had slipped 1.2%, the tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 1.9%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.2%.
Despite the single-day slump, Dell’s net worth has surged by more than $157 billion over the past year, up from $97.7 billion recorded in the 2025 Forbes 400 list.