Michael Dell is now the fifth richest person in the world—his worth has nearly doubled to $262 billion in the last year alone thanks to AI

The world’s richest entrepreneurs have watched their net worths skyrocket and plummet at the whim of the stock market.

And Michael Dell, the founder and CEO of pioneering tech company Dell Technologies , has just seen his wealth double thanks to the AI boom.

The 61-year-old—who owns 40% of his tech company—has gained around $122 billion since this time in 2025, nearly doubling his wealth to a whopping $262 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index .

Other tech players haven’t even touched that level of growth.

Larry Page’s net worth has grown $16.3 billion in the past year, while Jeff Bezos has seen his wealth surge $24.5 billion.

Mark Zuckerberg has lost $3.3 billion.

Now, Dell is the fifth richest man in the world, with some outlets like Forbes even ranking him at number two on the world billionaire’s list.

And the tech founder’s wealth surge largely comes from his legacy business unexpectedly rising as an AI frontrunner.

Fortune reached out to Dell for comment.

Dell Technologies—the company Michael Dell founded at just 19—has become an AI powerhouse Some have speculated whether a legacy tech company like Dell could stay relevant in the AI era.

But its rapid growth in AI infrastructure has proven those doubts wrong.

Dell was founded back in 1984, while Dell was a 19-year-old student studying at the University of Texas at Austin.

Starting out with just $1,000 in starting capital, the tech pioneer decided to drop out of college to pursue his vision of putting computers directly in the hands of users.

Dell built its reputation in rolling out PCs and laptops, especially through its early direct-to-consumer, build-to-order model.