The two volatile forces pushing Michael Dell to new heights
Michael Dell has enjoyed a fantastic year for his business and a growing relationship with President Donald Trump.
Michael Dell has enjoyed a fantastic year for his business and a growing relationship with President Donald Trump.
The growing friendship between President Donald Trump and Michael Dell has coincided with a banner year for the billionaire CEO.
Dell shares are up 240% this year, while the man himself has added $83.5 billion to his net worth. He's now the world's 6th-richest person with a staggering $223 billion to his name.
BI's Polly Thompson has more on how Dell's relationship with Trump has paid off big time .
Business people buddying up to Trump , or any politician, isn't groundbreaking. However, Dell's approach came with low reputational risk: giving money to kids.
The cornerstone of the recent bonding has been Dell and his wife, Susan, contributing $6.25 billion to Trump Accounts back in December. Since then, Trump has purchased more than $1 million in Dell stock, and the company won a $9.7 billion contract with the US Department of Defense.
And then there was the public endorsement from the president, who put the spotlight on Dell in a way it hasn't enjoyed since the "Dude, you're getting a Dell" commercials of the early 2000s.
"They are truly incredible people. Go out and buy a Dell computer," Trump told reporters earlier this month . "I have a son that loves their laptop."
Having the president's backing doesn't hurt, but it's AI giving Dell the real boost.
Revenue from Dell's infrastructure group, which sells AI-optimized servers alongside storage, networking and related services, nearly tripled in the first quarter from a year ago. The unit generated a record $29 billion, accounting for roughly two-thirds of Dell's overall revenue.
AI infrastructure is an area that's been red hot. Shares of Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, whose ProLiant servers compete directly with Dell's, are up more than 95% this year.
Dell has also continued to shrink its workforce, dropping its headcount by 27% over the past three years.
Regardless of who or what is driving Dell to new heights — Trump and/or the AI boom — both forces come with plenty of volatility.
Just ask Elon Musk what happens when you get on the president's bad side. (Although I think he's doing just fine.) And the ebbs and flows of AI innovation have sent semiconductor stocks on a rollercoaster.
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