Wikipedia's first sentence called it “american businessman”. Today it says “american billionaire businessman and investor”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “American businessman and CEO”. It now reads “American businessman (born 1965)”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2005 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in 2005
Dell (born on February 23 , 1965 in Houston, Texas , USA ) is an American businessman. He attended the University of Texas at Austin intending to become a physician. While at the university, he started a computer company called PC's Limited in his dormitory room. Dell commenced the business manufacturing personal computers with some radical ideas, including maintaining no finished-goods inventories and practically no component inventories, building only to order, and selling and delivering the completed PC units direct to customers ( direct sales ). The company became successful enough that Dell dropped out of college at the age of 19 to run the business full time. In 1987 , PC's Limited changed its name to Dell Computer Corporation , and in 2003 , Dell, Inc. The company became the most profitable PC manufacturer in the world, with sales of $35 billion and profits of $2 billion in 2002 . On March 4 , 2004 , Michael Dell stepped down as CEO of Dell but stayed as Chairman of the Board, while Kevin Rollins , then President and COO, became President and CEO. Accolades for Dell include: "Entrepreneur of the Year" from Inc. magazine; "Man of the Year" from PC Magazine ; "Top CEO in American Business" from Worth Magazine; "CEO of the Year" from Financial World and Industry Week magazines. In the 2005 publication of the Forbes 400 , Dell was listed as the 9th richest man in the United States and the 18th richest in the world with a net worth of around $16 billion. Dell resides in Austin, Texas with his wife Susan and their four children.1
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 16039799.
The opening as it stood in 2010 11 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Michael Saul Dell (born February 23, 1965) is an American business magnate and the founder and chief executive officer of Dell Inc .He is one of the richest people in the world, with a net worth of US$13.5 billion in 2010.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 371281425.
The opening as it stood in 2015 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Michael Saul Dell (born February 23, 1965) is an American business magnate , investor, philanthropist, and author.He is the founder and CEO of Dell Inc. , one of the world’s leading sellers of personal computers (PCs).He was ranked the 41st richest person in the world on 2012 Forbes list of billionaires , with a net worth of US$22.4 billion as of December 2014.In 2011, his 243.35 million shares of Dell stock were worth $3.5 billion, giving him 12% ownership of the company.His remaining wealth of roughly $10 billion is invested in other companies and is managed by a firm whose name, MSD Capital , incorporates Dell's initials.On January 5, 2013 it was announced that Michael Dell had bid to take Dell Inc. private for $24.4 billion in the biggest leveraged buyout since the Great Recession .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 668962080.
The opening as it stood in 2020 2 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
American businessman and CEO Michael Saul Dell (born February 23, 1965) is an American billionaire businessman and philanthropist.He is the founder, chairman and CEO of Dell Technologies , one of the world's largest technology infrastructure companies.He is ranked 27th richest in the world by Forbes , with a net worth of $27.2 billion as of April 2020. In 2011, his 243.35 million shares of Dell Inc. stock were worth $3.5 billion, giving him 12% ownership of the company. His remaining wealth of roughly $10 billion is invested in other companies and is managed by MSD Capital , which incorporates his initials.In January 2013 it was announced that he had bid to take Dell Inc. private for $24.4 billion in the biggest management buyout since the Great Recession .Dell Inc. officially went private in October 2013.The company once again went public in December 2018.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 963652891.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
American business magnate Michael Saul Dell (born February 23, 1965) is an American billionaire businessman, investor and philanthropist. He is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Dell Technologies , one of the world's largest technology infrastructure companies. He is currently the 16th richest person in the world according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index , with a net worth of $70 billion as of September 2023. In 2011, his 243.35 million shares of Dell stock were worth $3.5 billion, giving him 12% ownership of the company. His remaining wealth of roughly $10 billion is invested in other companies and is managed by DFO Management , which incorporates his initials. In January 2013 it was announced that he had bid to take Dell Inc. private for $24.4 billion in the biggest management buyout since the Great Recession . Dell Inc. officially went private in October 2013. The company once again went public in December 2018.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1178844681.
The opening as it stood in 2025 3 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
American business magnate Michael Saul Dell (born February 23, 1965) is an American billionaire businessman and investor. He is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Dell Technologies , one of the world's largest technology infrastructure companies. As of May 2025, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index , he is the 14th-richest person in the world with a net worth of $125 billion.As of October 2023, according to Forbes , approximately $50 billion of his net worth was derived from his 50% stake in Dell and 40% stake in VMware , with the rest being held by his family office DFO Management . In January 2013, it was announced that he had bid to take Dell Inc. private for $24.4 billion in the biggest management buyout since the Great Recession . Dell Inc. officially went private in October 2013. The company once again went public in December 2018.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1296674656. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “american businessman”. Today it says “american billionaire businessman and investor”. The one-line description Wikipedia serves to search engines and AI systems read “American businessman and CEO”. It now reads “American businessman (born 1965)”. Read the current article and compare.
2005
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2005, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
american businessman
Now
american billionaire businessman and investor
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
