The 25 Most Influential Executives Of 2016

2. Michael Dell

CEO

Dell

No one is making a bigger and bolder bet to grab channel market share than Michael Dell. After completing the largest leveraged buyout in tech history nearly three years ago, Dell is now poised to complete the largest IT acquisition in history with the $60 billion acquisition of EMC and VMware. The blockbuster deal creates an $80 billion IT behemoth with across-the-board strength in client, midmarket and enterprise markets. Dell has already proven his channel and technology mettle. Anyone who doubts he has what it takes is simply ignoring the entrepreneur-turned-industry-icon's impressive 32-year track record of keeping his namesake company out in front.