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CEO of Dell Technologies Michael Dell (L) speaks during a roundtable discussion with U.S. President Donald Trump in the Roosevelt Room at the White House on Dec. 10, 2025 in Washington, DC. Alex Wong | Getty Images
Michael Dell bought into President Donald Trump's second term early. Now his hardware company Dell Technologies is closing out its best month on Wall Street since its return to the public market in 2018. Since Trump returned to the White House last year, Michael Dell attended the president's Invest America Roundtable event in June 2025. In December, Trump introduced the computer executive and his wife, Susan Dell, as they announced a $6.25 billion gift for 25 million U.S. children's Trump Accounts. This month, Trump advised Americans to "go out and buy a Dell." On Wednesday, the company was awarded a $9.7 billion contract by the Pentagon to provide a suite of software to the U.S. military. The award came after what the Pentagon said was a competitive process, though the deal is being questioned by some experts in government. The Pentagon contract, given to Dell Federal Systems, a part of the company that focuses on government, has raised eyebrows as a potential payback for the Trump Accounts donation. "It looks terrible is the short answer," said Greg Williams, director of the Center for Defense Information, part of the Project on Government Oversight. "Very publicly courting contributions to all sorts of projects of the president's has created the very strong interest that they are in the business of soliciting contributions of various kinds in exchange either for access to the president or for outcomes that he may be able to influence." The dynamic is emblematic of how business is seeking to sow favor with the president in his second term, and has departed from the norms of big business philanthropy and business entreaties to the White House. "What's new here is they're not giving through an intermediary or through a nonprofit or some type of a mediating durable institution, which is typically how philanthropy works," said Megan Tompkins-Stange, an associate professor at the University of Michigan's Ford School of Public Policy. "Instead, they are giving directly to this branded initiative with Trump's name."
Even before the Pentagon deal, Dell Technologies has soared in value, with its stock nearly tripling in the past year. The company is now worth over $200 billion. Michael Dell, its chairman and CEO, was among the business leaders Trump turned to in 2017 at the start of his first term in office. In 2018, Dell Technologies debuted on the New York Stock Exchange through a reverse merger, five years after Michael Dell and private equity firm Silver Lake took Dell Inc. private. Dell expanded in 2016 with the acquisition of data center equipment company EMC. Trump bought $1 million to $5 million in Dell shares on Feb. 10, according to a government ethics filing. On that day, the stock closed at $126.01. He also made three other substantially smaller purchases of Dell shares in March, according to the filing. Dell Technologies shares began climbing in late February, after it said revenue grew 40% year over year, the fastest pace since the reverse merger. Executives said so-called neoclouds were buying up Dell's servers that contain graphics processing units for running generative artificial intelligence models, contributing to a 342% AI server sales jump. Earnings increased 47%, with price hikes benefiting margins. Today, 3.6% of Dell's revenue derives from consumers, through laptop PCs, desktops, monitors and webcams. On Thursday, Dell announced another quarter of impressive results, with total revenue surging almost 88% and AI server revenue spiking 757%. The stock surged 39% to $441.56 in extended trading on Thursday evening. If Trump has held onto the shares bought Feb. 10, he would be sitting on a paper profit between $1.5 million and $7.5 million. Excluding Thursday's after-hours move, Dell shares have risen about 179% in the past year, while the S&P 500 has gained 28% in the same period, and the Nasdaq is up around 41%.
Michael Dell founded Dell in 1984. He is Dell Technologies' largest individual shareholder, with a stake worth almost $6 billion as of Thursday's close, according to FactSet. The Dells were notable philanthropists before the Trump Accounts donation, establishing their foundation in 1999 to help children living in poverty through better healthcare, education and financial opportunities. Michael Dell told CNBC in December that he became interested in seeding investment accounts for children in 2021 after hearing about the idea from Altimeter Capital's Brad Gerstner, years before the accounts bore Trump's name. While the $6.25 billion donation aligns with the Dells' charitable priorities, it was a significantly larger gift than they had ever made. The Trump Accounts donation was more than double their foundation's total giving, a foundation spokesperson previously told CNBC. The gift is also a stark departure from how the Dells and other tech philanthropists often support charitable causes, according to Tompkins-Stange, who focuses on the role of wealth, power and philanthropy in influencing public policy. The Dells' contribution is going to a statutory program, rather than a nonprofit or other intermediary. "Traditionally, a lot of tech philanthropists often want to circumvent government programs because they're seen as more bureaucratic and less agile. They'd rather go through other means of influence," said Tompkins-Stange.
Susan Dell and Michael Dell attend the 12th Annual Mack, Jack & McConaughey Gala at ACL Live on April 25, 2024 in Austin, Texas. Rick Kern | Getty Images