The battle at the top is just beginning: Who will be the second richest man in the world?

Michael Dell surpassed Jeff Bezos to become the third richest person in the world, with a fortune of $276.5 billion. The gap between him and Larry Page ($277.9 billion) is only $1.4 billion, and Bezos is $3.5 billion behind. Dell reached second place on September 9 after a daily increase of $6 billion, but dropped back within days. The surge is due to Dell Technologies' transformation into an AI server provider, with record revenue of $47 billion in the second quarter.

Michael Dell, founder of Dell Technologies, achieved an unprecedented feat this week when he was ranked second on the list of the world's richest people for the first time, behind only Elon Musk. On September 9, Forbes estimated his fortune at approximately $273.2 billion, after an increase of more than $6 billion in a single day. Along the way, Dell surpassed Google founder Larry Page and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. However, the top of the list changes almost daily: in the latest Forbes update, Dell is in third place with about $276.5 billion, behind Musk ($929 billion) and Page ($277.9 billion). Bezos is just below him with $273 billion, and Sergey Brin with $255.8 billion. Dell's surge is not due to sales of personal computers, but to Dell Technologies becoming one of the beneficiaries of the artificial intelligence infrastructure boom. The company builds high-performance server systems based on Nvidia chips. In the second quarter of 2027, Dell reported record revenue of $47 billion, an increase of 58%, and revenue of $16.4 billion from AI-optimized servers alone. The order backlog for AI servers stands at about $95 billion. The stock hit record highs, and on September 11 it surged more than 10% and touched a record high of about $565. Dell still holds about 40% of the company's shares. However, the article notes risks: the AI server market generates enormous revenue but involves high hardware costs and relatively low margins. Commentators pointed to the tension between the rate of sales growth and component costs. Reuters reported signs that funding for building AI infrastructure is becoming more cautious. The gap between Dell and Page is only $1.4 billion, and Bezos is $3.5 billion behind — amounts that could be wiped out in a single trading day. In one week, Dell went from third place to second, dropped back, and then climbed again.