Steve Ballmer (Former microsoft CEO) (Image: X @Steve Ballmer)
Steve Ballmer (Microsoft’s former CEO) surpassed Bill Gates and has been positioned as the sixth-richest person in the world, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index. He has become more affluent than the company’s founder as per the wealth index.
It was stated in Bloomberg Billionaires Index that more than 90% of Steve Ballmer’s wealth (Approx. 157.2 billion) is in Microsoft shares. He retired from Microsoft in 2014 halting his service from company finances and daily operations. He has made major changes and has contributed to the company during his tenure.
Later, he became the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers (Basketball Association). He is also the co-founder of Ballmer Group known as a philanthropic investment company. However, most of his wealth was from Microsoft shares. It was because the shares soared to a top record adding up to 21% of gain in the year 2024. Apart from that the company’s partnership with OpenAI hiked the US stock market investments in the AI race. On the other hand, Bill Gates garnered a $156.7 billion fortune through Cascade Investment which was built with Microsoft stock sales and other benefits.
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Since both Billionaires are into philanthropy, they have committed to serving society, and the wealth of Bill Gates has started to dwindle slowly through his wilful works. But Ballmer will not come even near Gates in terms of foundations and charitable organisations. Bill Gates contributed $75 billion of his wealth to build the Gates Foundation.
Ballmer unveiled Microsoft’s first-ever computer device and continued creating momentum by announcing the purchase of Nokia’s mobile phone division in September 2013. When Ballmer halted his service in Microsft he became the largest shareholder and gathered most of its benefits in the same year of his retirement. His ownership of the Clippers was accepted by many as his willingness to spend a whopping amount of money to acquire superstar players and aid in the construction of Intuit Dome ( indoor arena) in California.
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