Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer turns 68 today, and as the world’s sixth richest person, he has a lot to celebrate.
Ballmer’s net worth is about $148 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, putting him on the verge of overtaking his former boss, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who has a net worth of $154 billion.
Looking back at Ballmer’s illustrious career reveals the secret to his success, and it wasn’t always glamorous. Mr. Ballmer dropped out of his business school at Stanford at the age of 24 and joined Gates, an alumnus of Microsoft and Harvard. As his 30th employee at the company, Mr. Ballmer’s base salary was his $50,000.
This small technology start-up quickly became one of America’s fastest-growing companies, overtaking incumbent Apple by developing Windows, an easy-to-use operating system that led to the growth of personal computers in the 1990s. dominated. Mr. Ballmer took over from Mr. Gates during a critical transition period in 2000, navigating the company through the fallout from a high-profile antitrust case dating back to 1998, the fallout from the dot-com bust, and the rise of fierce competition from rivals. . New and old: Google and Apple.
Ballmer tripled Microsoft’s annual revenue to nearly $78 billion during his tenure, and profits ballooned to $22 billion in his last full fiscal year as CEO, but the stock price doesn’t reflect his dominance. Ta. Looking back, Ballmer set the stage for an incredible comeback in the decades since. Microsoft currently ranks 13th in the Fortune 500, but its market capitalization has conquered all others and is the most valuable company in the world, with a value of 3.2 trillion It’s a dollar.
Ballmer still owns an estimated 4.5% of Microsoft stock, and its value has soared following his successor Satya Nadella’s bet on OpenAI. In 2021, Ballmer became the ninth person in the world to have a net worth of over $100 billion, and the only billionaire who made his fortune as an employee rather than as an entrepreneur.
After thanking his employees for “the time of my life” in an emotional farewell presentation in 2014, Ballmer turned his attention to other entrepreneurial adventures. That same year, he bought the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers for $2 billion (Forbes magazine currently values the franchise at more than $4.5 billion).
Since leaving Microsoft, Ballmer has turned heavily into philanthropy. In 2018, he donated nearly $2 billion to the donor-advised Goldman Sachs Charitable Fund, which focuses on economic mobility. More recently, he invested $400 million to support Black-owned businesses in 2022. Last March, Washington state’s early childhood education workforce reached $43 million. And in September last year, it announced a new initiative over the next seven years aimed at supporting 4 million young people, especially those in communities of color who face systemic inequalities, along the path to economic mobility. announced an investment of $175 million.
In one of his final interviews as Microsoft CEO in 2013, Ballmer said: luck He shares some of his biggest tips for success.
- Let’s look at the big picture
“If the CEO doesn’t see the competitive playing field, no one else can,” Ballmer said in a 2013 interview. luck. “Teams may need to see it too, but CEOs need to be able to see the entire competitive space.”
Microsoft’s various products, such as cloud services and personal computing, are entering different markets, and competition seems to be lurking around every corner. During his tenure as CEO, he faced criticism for failing to adapt quickly to changing market trends. Competitors of mobile devices such as Samsung and Nokia and cloud computing services such as Google and Apple have emerged. In the years leading up to his departure in 2014, Microsoft’s stock price was in the doldrums. Still, under his watch, Microsoft’s revenue nearly quadrupled.
- always look for talent
During his time at Microsoft, Ballmer hired Silicon Valley bigwigs like Stephen Sinofksi, who led Windows. J. Allard, who served as Xbox’s chief technology officer. and Ray Ozzie, chief software architect at Microsoft.
In a 2009 interview wall street journal“To be dynamic,” Ballmer said, companies should aim to promote internal employees “70% or 80% of the time,” and if a company wants to bring in an external hire, it should be “open.” In “Mind,” he said that we should ask: For your reference.
When interviewing potential new employees, the two biggest qualities he looks for are “tangible” passion and someone you can relate to. One of his favorite questions is, “Tell me about something you’re proud of.”
- Always think again – that’s how you find the most successful business model
At Microsoft, the name of Ballmer’s game was “rethink, rethink, rethink.”
“There was a day when we were told that all the money is in the software. Get out of the hardware,” he said. luck Apple and Samsung, Microsoft’s biggest rivals at the time, were also making profits from hardware. In 2013, Apple recorded revenue of 170.9 billion. Google recorded $55.5 billion. “Then someone will say, ‘Oh, this is all about advertising.'” That’s what rival Google was counting on.
“The playing field is always changing,” he says, and that sentiment applies to his current efforts on the basketball court.
A decade after buying the Clippers, Ballmer is still thinking creatively about how to revamp the franchise. He joins Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Russell to form a quartet of stars in preparation for August’s Intuit Dome grand opening, the team’s future home court and setting the stage for the NBA in 2026. Forbes reported that they are signing and retaining superstars like Westbrook. All-Star weekend.
This month, we launched a new brand, Halo Sports and Entertainmentwill feature the new Dome, the Los Angeles Clippers, their G League affiliate team called the Ontario Clippers, and the KIA Forum, Inglewood’s music and entertainment arena purchased in 2020.
- Make short and long term plans
“It’s a long cycle of doing the important things right that generate all the profits,” Ballmer said. luck In 2013, he emphasized that “it’s a short cycle to actually do it the way you can.”
One of the long-term projects he has been working on is USAFacts. This is a database that collects and analyzes how federal, state, and local governments generate revenue and spend money. The database also includes reports that users can run to gather information on a variety of topics, from national tax rates to overdose and crime rates.
The site advertises itself as a “nonpartisan, non-profit, civic initiative” and has no “political or commercial motives.”
- Know where you’re lacking
“I obviously understand business better than I understand technology,” Ballmer concluded in a 2013 interview, but added, “I grew up, and when you grow up, you think, ‘Wow, I understand business.’ What didn’t you understand?” he added. I do not know. ”
One joke theory related to his limitations has surfaced. It’s what Urban Dictionary calls Balmer Peak, or “the theory that when blood alcohol levels are between 0.129% and 0.138%, computer programmers acquire near-magical superhuman coding abilities.” is loosely associated with Ballmer, and is what inspired the San Francisco organization Origin to organize the Ballmer Peek-A-Thon. This is an open bar event where people have “5 hours to find the elusive Balmer Peak and make the best of it.” Business is possible. ” The bar offers “a bunch of unregistered domain names” to get the party started.