Michael Dell’s net worth dropped by more than $20 billion on Wednesday after Dell Technologies’ shares fell 11.1%, causing him to slip from the fourth to the fifth richest person globally. The decline followed a downgrade of Dell stock by Barclays from 'overweight' to 'equal-weight' ahead of market open, marking the steepest intraday drop for the company since July, according to livemint.com.
The sharp fall in Dell Technologies’ share price triggered a significant erosion in Michael Dell’s fortune, reducing his net worth to an estimated $256.6 billion. This placed him just behind Alphabet co-founder Sergey Brin, whose wealth also declined by about $4 billion to $262.3 billion amid a drop in Alphabet shares during the same session. Last month, Dell briefly became the world’s second-richest person after his net worth surpassed $270 billion.
Dell Technologies has benefited from the artificial intelligence boom, driven by increased demand for its high-performance servers and data center infrastructure. Despite this, the broader market sell-off and Barclays’ downgrade weighed heavily on the stock. Michael Dell retains an estimated 40% stake in the company he founded, which remains a key player in supplying AI server technology, a sector currently experiencing rapid growth.
Michael Dell now holds a narrow lead over Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, whose net worth was estimated at $253.1 billion on Wednesday. The stock decline represents a notable shift in the global wealth rankings, underscoring the volatility of tech stocks amid changing market sentiments and analyst outlooks.