Legends Live @Citi: Michael Dell
HIGHLIGHTS
- Citi hosted Dell Technologies Chairman and CEO Michael Dell as part of the firm’s ongoing global speaker series, Legends Live @Citi, connecting audiences with leaders shaping innovation across industries
- From founding Dell in his dorm room, Michael built a company that transformed how technology is designed, delivered and scaled globally, pioneering a direct-to-customer model and redefining the economics of computing
- With Michael’s leadership, Dell Technologies has continuously reinvented itself, evolving from PCs to enterprise infrastructure, cloud, data, cybersecurity and AI, guided by a culture of curiosity, disciplined execution and long-term thinking
Citi hosted Dell Technologies Chairman and CEO Michael Dell for the latest session of Legends Live @Citi.
Michael is one of the most influential entrepreneurs in modern technology. He founded Dell out of his college dorm room and, through scrappy innovation, relentless customer focus and steadfast conviction in his vision, grew it into the global technology powerhouse it is today.
During the session, he shared candid reflections on building a customer first business, navigating disruption and leading one of the most significant transformations in tech history. He also discussed the accelerating impact of AI, the importance of continuous reinvention and his lifelong commitment to philanthropy alongside his wife, Susan, with a focus on building pathways that change lives throughout the world.
Michael Dell, Chairman and CEO, Dell Technologies
Michael Dell is chairman and chief executive officer of Dell Technologies, an innovator and technology leader providing the essential infrastructure for organizations to build their digital future, transform IT and protect their most important information.
Dell Technologies is one of the world’s largest IT companies serving the needs of global corporations and governments to small businesses and consumers. Dell Technologies’ commitment to ethics and privacy is a source of pride and inspiration within the company. Dell has been recognized as one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies by the Ethisphere Institute, and has also been recognized by Fortune as a Most Admired Company and Best Place to Work, by Forbes as one of America’s Best Employers For Women and by Newsweek as a Most Loved Workplace.
Michael’s story started when he founded Dell Technologies with $1000 in 1984 at the age of 19. Notably quoted as saying that “technology is about enabling human potential,” Michael’s vision of how technology should be designed, manufactured and sold forever changed the IT industry. In 1992, Michael became the youngest CEO ever to earn a ranking on the Fortune 500. Known and admired for his astute business vision and bold moves, Michael took Dell Technologies private in 2013, setting the stage to architect the largest technology deal in history with the combination of Dell, EMC and VMware in 2016 and the subsequent relisting of Dell Technologies on the public markets in 2018.
In 1998, Michael formed MSD Capital, now DFO Management, a private investment firm that exclusively manages the capital for the Dell family. And in 1999, he established his family foundation, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, with the mission of building pathways that change lives throughout the world. In 2025, Michael and Susan made an unprecedented $6.25 billion commitment through their charitable vehicles to fund investment accounts for 25 million American children, working with Invest America and the U.S. Treasury in a national effort to expand opportunity, strengthen communities and help more young people shape their own future. Across business, philanthropy, community and family, Michael and Susan have a goal to unlock limitless opportunity for all. This is the OneDell way.
Michael serves as one of the first members of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. He is a member of the Technology CEO Council and the Business Roundtable, two of Washington's most influential forums for technology and business policy. He is an executive committee member of the International Business Council, a strategic advisory body within the World Economic Forum, of which he is also an honorary Foundation Board member. He is Chairman of the BDT & MSD Advisory Board, and he served as the United Nations Foundation's first Global Advocate for Entrepreneurship. Michael has shared his perspective on technology, business, family, philanthropy and leadership in two books, Direct from Dell and Play Nice But Win.
Leon Kalvaria, Global Chair of Banking, Citi
Leon Kalvaria is a member of the Client Organization Management Committee, and Citi’s Private Equity Investment Oversight Committee. Previously, Leon was Chairman of Citi’s Institutional Clients Group. Before that, he was Global Head of Consumer and Healthcare Investment Banking.
Leon joined Schroders in 1996 as Global Head of Consumer Banking, and Citigroup in 2000 following the merger of the two companies.
Prior to Schroders, Leon served as Vice Chairman and a Director of Triarc Companies, an investment company, and as Managing Director in the Mergers & Acquisitions Group at Credit Suisse First Boston. Leon was also a pioneer in the interest rate swap market at First Boston and a founding member of ISDA.
Leon has advised numerous Chief Executive Officers and Boards of Directors in some of the largest and most complex global mergers and acquisitions, recapitalizations and public offerings.
Leon received his BA from Princeton University (Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs) and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and Heineken Family Council.
