Who is Susan Dell?

Quick facts

• Full name: Susan Lynn Lieberman Dell
• Born: Dallas, Texas
• Education: Arizona State University (fashion marketing and design)
• Spouse: Michael Dell, founder and CEO of Dell Technologies (married 1989)
• Children: 4 (Alexa, Kira, Juliette and Zachary)
• Known for: Co-founder of the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation; luxury fashion label Phi; competitive triathlete and marathoner

Their story

She grew up in Dallas, was an active athlete from a young age, and studied fashion marketing and design at Arizona State University. She married Michael Dell in 1989, and the two have kept their four children largely out of the public eye.

She is not simply a name on a foundation. Susan Dell is far more than the spouse of a tech billionaire. She is a philanthropist, fashion entrepreneur and accomplished endurance athlete in her own right.

What she built

In 1999, Susan co-founded the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation with her husband and has served as its chair for more than 25 years. The foundation focuses on improving children's education, health and family economic stability, operating programs in the United States, India, Africa and Israel.

As of 2025, the foundation is estimated to have about $7.5 billion in assets under management, with $2.9 billion given since 1999 to children's issues and community initiatives, with a large focus on education.

Their philanthropic footprint includes major investments in Texas, such as the Dell Medical School at UT Austin, Dell Seton Medical Center and Dell Children's Medical Center.

The most recent headline: in December 2025, the Dells pledged $6.25 billion to fund "Trump Accounts," providing $250 each for up to 25 million American children aged 10 and under. They then followed that with a $750 million gift to UT Austin, which the university will use to establish the UT Dell Medical Center and a 300-plus-acre research campus focused on clinical care, advanced computing and artificial intelligence, bringing their total contributions to that university above $1 billion.

Fashion and athletics

Beyond philanthropy, Susan is a successful fashion entrepreneur who launched three fashion brands. In 2003, she founded Phi, an edgy luxury label that debuted with a runway show in New York. The brand sold at Neiman Marcus and Net-a-Porter before closing in 2009.

She has competed in elite marathons, triathlons and the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii, set course records in cycling races and served on President George W. Bush's Council for Physical Fitness and Sports.

Worth knowing

Forbes ranks her husband Michael Dell as the 12th wealthiest American, with a net worth of $140.5 billion. Reliable estimates of Susan's individual net worth are scarce, since major publications typically aggregate spousal wealth. What is clear is that the philanthropic commitment she steers is in a category of its own: the December 2025 pledge was described by the couple as "certainly the largest gift we will have given."