The fabulous life of billionaire Michael Dell, who is once again fighting with Carl Icahn over the future of his company
Julie Bort
Private planes, fancy cars, summer homes, the ever embattled leader of the biggest private tech company leads an epic life.
/public/assets/BI/US/favicons/apple-touch-icon-192x192.png?v=2023-11
Business Insider
This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? .

Michael Dell is once again making headlines as he tries to take his company public again in an unusual and controversial way.

Advertisement

Instead of an IPO, Dell wants to buy the "tracking stock" of VMware for a combo of cash and Dell's stock. The tracking stock was created when Dell bought VMware's majority stakeholder EMC as part of that mega $67 billion deal. VMware is publicly traded and the tracking stock gave EMC investors extra value for their portion of VMware's equity, to encourage them to approve Dell's offer for EMC, which they did.

This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? .

The tracking stock is also publicly traded, separate from VMware's common stock. Buying the tracking stock with Dell's stock means Dell would instantly become into a public company again, without a traditional IPO.

But this deal initially earned the scorn of multiple hedge fund managers, who say Dell's offer for the tracking stock is too low.Dell has bowed to the pressure and offered investors more money ... a lot more money.

This deal has put Michael Dell back in the bullseye of his old nemesis Carl Icahn, who bought an 8% stake of the tracking stock and had threatened to sue if the offer isn't either dropped or raised. He wanted Dell to triple the offer, though Dell isn't raising his offer that by that much.

Advertisement

With an estimated net worth of $27.5 billion, Dell is one of the wealthiest people in the world. From his early career as one of the youngest CEOs of a Fortune 500 company until today, Dell is used to getting his way.

He was only 23 when his company had its IPO in 1988, and soon he was a billionaire.

Dell lives the extravagant life of a successful businessman as well, complete with all of the private planes, summer homes, and sweet rides you'd expect from a billionaire.

Advertisement

Michael Dell was born on Feb. 23, 1965, in Houston, Texas. He was fascinated with gadgets from a young age — when he was 15, he bought one of the first Apple computers and disassembled it to see if he could put it back together.

Source: Academy of Achievement

When he was in high school, he got a job selling newspaper subscriptions. After figuring out how to target an untapped customer base, he made $18,000 in just one year.

Source: Academy of Achievement

Advertisement

Though he was really only interested in computers, Dell entered the University of Texas at Austin as a pre-med student in 1983. He spent his spare time upgrading PCs and selling them from his dorm room, making $180,000 in his first month of business. Though he never came back for his sophomore year of classes, he returned to his dorm for a photo opp in 1999.

Source: Entrepreneur

Last year, Dell tweeted out his first financial statement from his dorm PC company that he used to convince his parents he didn't have to go back to college. He sold nearly $1 million worth of computers and, after paying salaries and expenses, made over $198,000 in gross profit.

Advertisement

He officially launched his company in 1984, under the name PC's Limited. It soon became one of the fastest-growing companies in the country, raking in more than $6 million in sales in its first year of business.

Source: Entrepreneur

He changed the company's name to Dell Computer Corp. in 1987, and sales continued to soar. It went public in 1988, raising $30 million in its initial public offering. Dell made about $18 million off of the deal, and by 1992, the 27-year-old CEO was the youngest man to ever lead a Fortune 500 company.

Source: Entrepreneur, Academy of Achievement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Susan is a well-liked figure on the Austin social scene. Her fashion designs have caught some attention over the years, too. Back in 2001, she designed the inaugural ball gowns for Jenna and Barbara Bush. She operated a successful boutique in Austin and even had two labels of her own before opening a new fashion brand, Phi, in New York City, which she closed in 2009.

Source: Austin Business Journal, Texas Monthly, New York Magazine

Advertisement

Advertisement

The kids shared this photo of their dad with the family dogs.

Source: Facebook

Advertisement

Advertisement

In 2014, he set a record by paying over $100 million for a penthouse on New York’s Billionaire’s Row. In 2017, he bought a Four Seasons penthouse in Boston, where EMC is based, for $40 million.

In 2014, Mr. Dell, 53, spent $100.47 million on a penthouse on New York’s Billionaire’s Row, setting a record for the city’s priciest home purchase, people familiar with the transaction said. Last year, he snapped up a penthouse seeking $40 million at the Four Seasons Private Residences One Dalton Street in Boston.

Advertisement

Dell also reportedly owns a four-story neoclassical home on the exclusive Caribbean island of Anguilla.

Source: Mother Jones

Advertisement

Dell loved the resort area of Hualalai so much that in 2006, though his investment company MSD Capital, he bought the whole thing— hotel, resort, everything except the private homes — an investment he shares with Walmart billionaire Rob Walton.

Source: Bloomberg

Dell started MSD Capital in 1998 to manage his family's wealth. The firm has made investments in a number of companies, including IHOP and Applebee's parent company, apparel company Phillips-Van Heusen, offshore oil drilling company Independence Contract Drilling, even startups, like HR software company Gusto.

Source: Pitchbook, SEC filings.

Advertisement

MSD also invests in all sorts of other things. For instance, in 2010, the firm purchased 185,000 vintage photos, one of the most important photography archives of the 20th century, previously owned by the Magnum photo cooperative. The collection was reportedly worth $100 million and it was one of the largest photography transactions in history.

Source: Bloomberg, New York Times

Through MSD Capital, Michael Dell also owns a wide variety of real estate in Hawaii, Mexico, and California. The company invests in luxury hotels, commercial and multifamily properties, and land development, and it participates in other real-estate-development funds.

Advertisement

Dell has his fair share of hot wheels as well. His car collection at one point included a 2004 Porsche Boxster ...

Source: MSN

... a Porsche Carrera GT ...

Source: MSN

Advertisement

... and a Hummer H2.

Source: MSN

Advertisement

He's owned his share of airplanes too, including a Gulfstream V. Dell reportedly upgraded to a Boeing Dreamliner 787 in 2013 too.

Source: Wall Street Journal

Advertisement

The private plane definitely comes in handy for when Michael and Susan travel for their nonprofit organization. The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation focuses on issues related to underprivileged children, both in the US and around the world.

Source: The Independent

Since 1999, the Dell's charitable foundation has given away nearly $1.6 billion to nonprofits and social enterprises in the US, India, and South Africa.

Source: Michael and Susan Dell Foundation

Advertisement

When Hurricane Harvey devastated his home town of Houston in 2017, the couple raised a $100 million fund from 33,000 donors, to pay for rebuilding projects. In its first year, it has distributed half of the money to 156 projects.

Dell is friends with other tech billionaires. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff is a particular buddy. The two of them did a public Fitbit walking challenge in 2014 and Benioff's team won. But Dell is so competitive (and also a fitness fanatic), that Benioff jokingly suspected that Dell put his Fitbit on his dog to help him score more steps.

Source: Fitbit, Business Insider

Advertisement

In 2004, Dell left the helm of his PC company and moved to the chairman role. But in 2007, with Dell's share of the PC market declining, he shook up management, took the reins as CEO, and never let go again. As the PC market continued to decline, he expanded into bigger new markets through new products and acquisitions.

Advertisement

In 2013, the legendary Texan won a long, often ugly battle to take Dell private, fighting off legendary activist investor Carl Icahn, who wanted to stop the deal, replace the board and fire Dell.

Source: Business Insider

Advertisement

Two years after winning that battle, Dell announced plans to buy EMC for $67 billion, the largest tech acquisition ever. This is EMC CEO Joe Tucci shaking hands with Dell.

The financing of a deal this huge was complicated, and at first, skeptics thought it would fall apart in all sorts of ways, citing everything from tax complications to pushback from investors in VMware, a company EMC mostly owned.

Source: Recode, Business Insider

Advertisement

But Dell didn't lose. Instead he catapulted his company into a much bigger one with the purchase of EMC. He is now the leader of the largest private company in the tech industry.

Dell Technologies earned nearly $80 billion in revenue in its last fiscal year and employs about 145,000 people

Source: Dell Technologies

Advertisement

After 5 years as a private company, Dell is about to become public again, if Michael Dell wins this next battle with Carl Icahn. Icahn and other investors want Dell to pay more for the VMware tracking stock, which trades under the symbol "DVMT" because VMware's regular stock trades for far more. Dell has been pressured into increasing his offer to $120 per share, up from $109 per share and major investors have now said they are on board.

Source: Reuters

Shareholders are scheduled to vote on the deal on Dec. 11. If history is any indication, then Dell will get his way with this investor fight, just as he has on all the fights in the past. He's gone from a PC kingpin to one of the most powerful men in the tech world and nothing seems to stop him ever.

Read next

Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read preview

Thanks for signing up! Go to newsletter preferences

Thanks for signing up!

Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go.

Email address

By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You can opt-out at any time by visiting our Preferences page or by clicking "unsubscribe" at the bottom of the email.

Billionaires

Advertisement