Who is Steve Ballmer and what is his net worth?
MICROSOFT are one of the most famous companies in history, responsible for large innovations in technology.
Here, we take a look at their former CEO Steve Ballmer, who served in that role for over 14 years.
Why Steve Ballmer is so rich?
Steve Ballmer is an American businessman who was CEO of Microsoft from 2000 to 2014.
He worked at the company from 1980, working his way up to the top of the company after heading a number of different divisions within the organization.
He has been the owner of Basketball team the Los Angeles Clippers since 2014.
According to Forbes, he is worth $88.8billion (around £72billion) correct as of March 2023.
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What did Steve Ballmer do for Microsoft?
Ballmer joined Microsoft in 1980, dropping out of Stanford school of business to do so.
Ballmer had known Bill Gates from their time studying at Harvard University. Ballmer graduated with a degree in applied mathematics and economics in 1977, whilst Gates dropped out to create Microsoft.
He became president of the company in 1998, before replacing Gates as CEO in January 2000.
Gates’ stepped down from this role as he wanted to spend more time on his foundation that he founded with then-wife Melinda Gates.
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Ballmer was Gates’ best man at his wedding to Melinda In 1994.
Why did Steve Ballmer leave Microsoft?
Ballmer retired from his role as CEO in 2014 and was replaced by Satya Nadellla.
He said in 2008 that he intended to stay in the role for at least 10 more years, but made the decision to step down after a major reorganization at the company, and the loss of billions of dollars.
Following his departure, it has been reported that Ballmer is no longer on speaking terms with Gates.
This has been put down to animosity from Gates towards Ballmer for his decision to leave the company.
It should be noted that despite leaving the top of the company, Ballmer still owns shares in Microsoft.