Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer turns 68 today, and the world’s sixth richest man has a lot to celebrate.
With a net worth of about $148 billion, Ballmer is now just shy of overtaking his old boss, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who is worth $154 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Looking back at Ballmer’s illustrious career reveals the secrets to his success, but it wasn’t always so glamorous. At 24, Ballmer dropped out of Stanford Business School to join Microsoft and Gates, his former Harvard classmate. As the company’s 30th employee, Ballmer received a base salary of US$50,000.
The small technology startup quickly became one of America’s fastest-growing companies, overtaking incumbent Apple to dominate the personal computing sector in the 1990s with the development of Windows, an easy-to-use operating system. Ballmer took over from Gates at a key point in the transition in 2000, dealing with the fallout from the famous antitrust case This began in 1998, and also after the dot-com crash and the emergence of fierce competition from both new and old competitors: Google and Apple.
During his tenure, Ballmer tripled Microsoft’s annual revenue to nearly $78 billion and profits rose to $22 billion in his last full fiscal year as CEO, but the stock did not reflect its dominance. In retrospect, Ballmer set the stage for a stunning comeback in the decades to come. Microsoft is now ranked 13th on the Fortune 500 list, while its market capitalization has taken everyone else by storm: it is the most valuable company in the world, worth $3.2 trillion.
Ballmer still has a rating 4.5% share at Microsoft, and his value rose even more after his successor Satya Nadella bet on OpenAI. In 2021, Ballmer became the ninth person in the world whose net worth exceeds $100 billion, and Ballmer is the only hundred billionaire who made his fortune as an employee rather than as an entrepreneur.
Thanking the staff for “the time of my life” in emotional farewell performance In 2014, Ballmer set his sights on other entrepreneurial adventures. That same year he bought $2 Billion NBA Los Angeles Clippers (now Forbes values franchise valued at over $4.5 billion).
After leaving Microsoft, Ballmer became deeply involved in philanthropy. He donated nearly $2 billion to Goldman Sachs donor-advised charitable foundation in 2018 focused on economic mobility. Most recently, it invested $400 million to support Black-owned businesses in 2022; $43 million among early childhood education workers in Washington state last March; and last September he announced Investment of US$175 million over the next seven years, aimed at helping 4 million young people, especially in communities of color who face systemic inequalities, on their path to economic mobility.
In one of his last interviews as Microsoft CEO in 2013, Ballmer spoke with Luck to share some of my top tips for success.
- Look at the big picture
“If the CEO can’t see the playing field, no one else can,” Ballmer said in a 2013 magazine interview. Luck. “Maybe the team needs to see that too, but the CEO really needs to be able to see the entire competitive landscape.”
Microsoft’s variety of products, such as cloud services and personal computing, touch many different markets, and competition seems to be lurking around every corner. During his tenure as CEO, he faced criticism for not adapting quickly enough to changing market trends. Competitors in mobile devices such as Samsung and Nokia and cloud computing services such as Google and Apple were growing. Microsoft shares were stagnation in the years leading up to his retirement in 2014. However, Microsoft’s revenue almost four times under his supervision.
- Always look for talent
While at Microsoft, Ballmer hired some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley, such as Stephen Sinofxy, who headed Windows; J. Allard, who served as technical director of Xbox; And Ray OzzieChief Software Architect at Microsoft.
In 2009 interview With Wall Street JournalTo “be dynamic,” companies should aim to promote internal workers “70% or 80% of the time,” and when a company wants to hire externally, they should be “open-minded” and ask for references, Ballmer said.
When interviewing potential new employees, the two most important qualities he looks for are the passion he can “see in the eyes” and a person he can relate to. One of his favorite questions is: “Tell me something you’re proud of.”
- Always Rethink – Here’s How to Find the Most Successful Business Model
Microsoft called Ballmer’s game “rethink, rethink, rethink.”
“There was a day when people said that all the money is in software; give up the hardware,” he said Luck in 2013. Hardware was where Apple and Samsung, Microsoft’s biggest competitors at the time, also made profits. In 2013 Apple recorded Revenue was $170.9 billion. Google recorded $55.5 billion. “Then someone will say, ‘Oh, it’s all about advertising,'” that’s what rival Google was banking on.
“The playing field is constantly changing,” he said, a sentiment that continues into his current endeavors on the basketball court.
Ten years after buying the Clippers, Ballmer is still thinking creatively about how renew the franchise. He signed and keptSuper star like Kawhi Leonard, Paul GeorgeAnd Russell Westbrook form a quartet of stars in preparation for the Intuit Dome Grand opening in August Forbes reportedthe team’s future home court and environment 2026 NBA All-Star Weekend.
This month he launched a new brand, Halo Sports and Entertainmentwhich will feature the new LA Clippers stadium, their G League Affiliate Team called the Ontario Clippers, and KIA Forummusic and entertainment arena in Inglewood, which he purchased in 2020.
- Plan for the short and long term
“Getting the big problems right that make all the money is a long cycle,” Ballmer said. Luck in 2013, emphasizing that “actually executing in a way that can be done is a short cycle.”
One of the long-term projects he is working on is USAFacts, 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 use to gather information on topics ranging from tax rates to overdose and crime rates across the country.
The site bills itself as a “nonpartisan, nonprofit citizen initiative” with no “political agenda or commercial motive.”
- Know where you fail
“I’m obviously better at business than I am at technology,” Ballmer concluded in a 2013 interview, but added: “I grew up, and when you grow up you go, ‘Wow, I didn’t know what I did.’ . Don’t know”.
One humorous theory has surfaced related to its limitations: it’s what Urban Dictionary calls Bulmer Peak, or “the theory that programmers gain quasi-magical, superhuman coding abilities when their blood alcohol concentration percentage is between 0.129% and 0.138%.” This theory is loosely associated with Ballmer, but inspired an organization based in San Francisco. Createorganize Ballmer Pick-A-Tone: open bar event where people have “5 hours to find the elusive Ballmer pinnacle and build the worst possible business.” The bar has “plenty of domain names” to get the party started.