Zuckerberg vs Dell

Meta Platforms and Dell Technologies.

The differences

Forbes puts Michael Dell about $28.1B ahead of Mark Zuckerberg.Forbes figures from 6 Oct 2026 and 22 Sep 2026.
Both started the company their money comes from.
Michael Dell is about 19 years older than Mark Zuckerberg.
Mark Zuckerberg has signed the Giving Pledge; Michael Dell has not.

Put someone else on either side

Zuckerberg

Dell

Net worth, Forbes: $253BForbes, 22 Sep 2026; $281BForbes, 6 Oct 2026
Net worth, Bloomberg: $251BBloomberg, 17 Oct 2026; $268BBloomberg, 9 Oct 2026
Forbes rank: No. 6Real-Time list, 22 Sep 2026; No. 5Real-Time list, 14 Oct 2026
Billionaire since: 2008First on the Forbes World's Billionaires list in 2008, with $1.5 billion; 1996Bloomberg: his stake was worth more than $1 billion eight years after the 1988 IPO

How it started: Co-founded itLaunched Facebook in 2004 with Dustin Moskovitz, Chris Hughes and Eduardo Saverin; Meta calls him its founder; Founded itFounded the company with $1,000 in 1984, at 19
Main source: Meta Platforms stockBloomberg: 'The majority of Zuckerberg's fortune is derived from a stake of about 13% in Meta Platforms'; Dell Technologies stockBloomberg: 'Much of Michael Dell's fortune is derived from his stake in Dell Technologies'
Companies: Meta PlatformsMeta Platforms: Founder, chairman and CEO; Dell TechnologiesDell Technologies: Chairman and CEO
Biggest stake: Meta Platforms13.5% owned; Dell Technologies40.9% owned

Born: 14 May 1984White Plains, New York, United States; 23 Feb 1965Houston, Texas, United States
Country: United StatesLives in Palo Alto, California, United States; United StatesLives in Austin, Texas, United States
Education: Left university without a degreeStudied computer science at Harvard University and left without a degree; honorary Harvard degree in 2017; Left university without a degreeLeft the University of Texas at Austin
Parents: His father, Edward, was a dentist with a practice in the family home; his mother, Karen, was a psychiatrist; His father was an orthodontist and his mother a financial consultant

Giving Pledge: Signed in 2010Pledged with Priscilla Chan; Not a signer
Foundation: Chan Zuckerberg InitiativeCo-founded with Priscilla Chan in 2015; he is co-CEO; Michael & Susan Dell FoundationEstablished in 1999 with his wife, Susan Dell
Lifetime giving: $7.2BChan Zuckerberg Initiative, undefined Oct 2026. CZI's own total of grants committed since 2015 ('over $7.22 billion'); an initiative-wide figure, not a personal estimate; $10BMichael & Susan Dell Foundation, date not stated. Amount Michael and Susan Dell have committed to date, as the foundation reports it; a commitment, not money paid out. Includes the $6.25 billion pledged in 2025 for children's investment accounts

Role now: Runs the companyFounder, chairman and CEO of Meta Platforms; Runs the companyChairman and CEO of Dell Technologies
Successor: None namedMeta's proxy says the board oversees CEO succession planning but names no successor, and reports no family relationships among directors or executive officers; None namedThe 2026 10-K lists the executive officers without naming a successor; no other family member is among them
Public office: Member, President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST)2026-; Member, President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST); Member, President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST)2001; 2026-
Legal record: None found; 2010: US SECSettled SEC disclosure charges over Dell Inc.'s reporting of payments from Intel, without admitting or denying the allegations; agreed to pay a $4 million civil penalty.