Is Dell Technologies Inc. owned by private equity?

Notes

• Dell Technologies’ 2025 proxy statement states it is a “controlled company” under NYSE standards because Mr. Dell beneficially owns shares representing more than 50% of the total voting power eligible to elect directors, indicating control rests with Michael S. Dell (an individual founder), not a private equity firm.
• The same proxy statement discloses that Silver Lake affiliated funds (“SLP stockholders”) hold a minority voting position (about 16.7% of total voting power as of the record date cited), which is significant but not controlling.
• Dell’s official corporate timeline states that in 2013 “Michael Dell and Silver Lake Partners buy Dell” (a leveraged buyout), but also states Dell Technologies returned to public markets in 2018, supporting that prior PE sponsorship does not equal current PE control.
• Dell’s official corporate timeline states that in 1984 Michael Dell founded PC’s Limited while a freshman at the University of Texas.
• Britannica describes the company (then PC’s Limited) as founded in 1984 by Michael Dell while he was attending the University of Texas in Austin, supporting founding year and location.