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Susan Dell is the one running the Dells’ $10 billion giving operation—and her biggest bets are on kids, health care, and UT Austin
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October 17, 2026, 6:48 AM ET
Susan and Michael Dell have donated more than $10 billion.Getty Images—Anna Moneymaker
Michael Dell is the sixth-richest man in the world with a net worth of about $232 billion. He and his wife, Susan, have given away about $10 billion of that fortune—and she is calling a lot of the shots on where the money goes.
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She is the co-founder and chair of the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, established in 1999. The organization currently manages more than 800 projects worldwide each year, particularly in the U.S., Africa, India, Israel, and their home state of Texas, where they live on a sprawling 33,000-square-foot estate.
The organization’s focus areas are education, jobs and livelihood, and health—causes she’s cared about deeply since childhood. Her father was a surgical oncologist and “sparked her lifelong passion for health,” the foundation says. As a girl, she would even stop strangers at the grocery store to tell them not to smoke.
“People matter to her,” Janet Mountain, head of the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, said in a statement. “And because people matter to her, solutions matter to her.” Mountain also previously served as an executive at Dell before joining the foundation in 2003.
Recently, Susan has focused largely on the foundation’s livelihood pillar through the Dells’ commitment to Trump Accounts. In December 2025, the couple committed $6.25 billion to provide $250 contributions to 25 million U.S. children.
The donation is intended to benefit children age 10 and under who aren’t eligible for the federal government’s separate $1,000 contribution for children born between 2025 and 2028. The Dells’ money will go to children in ZIP codes with median incomes of $150,000 or less, giving millions of families a chance to start building wealth early.
“We believe that when children have a future that they can see is worth saving for, then that will help build hope and opportunity and prosperity for generations to come,” Susan said during the White House announcement in December.
From Texas to beyond
The couple initially considered limiting their contribution to Texas, Michael explained at the event, before deciding to expand the initiative nationwide. But their home state has long been central to the Dells’ philanthropy, particularly when it comes to health care.
In April, the Dells became the first donors to surpass $1 billion in lifetime giving to the University of Texas at Austin. Their latest commitments will support a new advanced research campus, an AI-focused medical center, scholarships, student housing, and expanded supercomputing capabilities.
That milestone builds on decades of Dell investments in health care across Central Texas. In 2013, the foundation committed $50 million to establish Dell Medical School at UT Austin, along with another $10 million for local health care initiatives.
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“A medical school at UT Austin further establishes Central Texas as a center of excellence for family health and research,” Susan said at the time.
The foundation has also supported Dell Children’s Medical Center, which opened in 2007, and the Dell Pediatric Research Institute, helping expand access to specialized children’s care and medical research in the region.
Beyond her philanthropic work, Susan had a career of her own. A fashion entrepreneur, she founded three labels, including luxury brand Phi (which closed during the recession). She’s also an endurance athlete who has competed in marathons, triathlons, and the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii.
In 2018, she was inducted into the Texas Women’s Hall of Fame for helping families recover from Hurricane Harvey. She and Michael committed more than $43 million to rebuilding and recovery across 41 counties. In 2025, she and Michael also received the History-Making Texan Award, recognizing their contributions to the state and beyond.
And despite decades of philanthropy, Susan has long viewed the foundation’s work as far from finished.
“The reality is, you know, we’re just getting started,” she said during a 2017 discussion about the future of philanthropy.
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About the Author
By Sydney LakeAssociate Editor
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Sydney Lake is an associate editor at Fortune, where she writes and edits news for the publication’s global news desk.
