Steve Ballmer, best known as the trustworthy assistant of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, is making his way up on the list of wealthiest individuals globally and may soon surpass his former boss in net wealth.
The magnate's net worth has grown impressively by an estimated $29 billion this year, totaling almost $115 billion, according to Insider. This fast Steve Ballmer net worth increase positions him as the fifth richest person on the prestigious Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Intriguingly, Steve Ballmer is narrowing the difference with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who ranked fourth with a wealth pile of $121 billion. There has been a sizeable change since three months ago when their wealth disparity was $17 billion. Now the gap is minimized to only $6 billion. Consequently, Steve Ballmer's net worth has now surpassed a few eminent names on the billionaire's roster including Mark Zuckerberg (worth $108 billion), Larry Page ($110 billion), Larry Ellison ($114 billion), and Sergey Brin ($105 billion).
Clippers owner Steve Ballmer speaks to members of the press during the Los Angeles Clippers media day at the Honey Training Center in Playa Vista, California, on September 26, 2022.
Rising Through The Ranks
Steve Ballmer began his extraordinary journey in 1980 when he joined Microsoft as an assistant to the president. His role eventually shifted more towards that of a business manager. According to Forbes, he initially agreed to a basic salary of $50,000 plus 10% of any increase in profits but later decided to trade it in for a sizable shareholding when his profit percentage significantly increased.
Over time, Steve Ballmer climbed Microsoft's corporate ladder, finally becoming CEO in 2000. By the time he resigned in 2014, he had 333 million shares, or 4% of the company's stock, per regulatory records. According to Bloomberg's calculations, Ballmer has held onto most of these shares, valued at over $100 billion. Along with this, he would have earned profits amounting to billions of dollars throughout his career.
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The recent surge in Ballmer's wealth can be partly attributed to the growth in artificial intelligence, causing Microsoft share prices to soar. The company's investment in OpenAI, the parent company of ChatGPT, has stirred optimism about its potential to challenge Alphabet, Google's proprietor, for dominance in internet search. Consequently, Microsoft shares have rallied 38% in the past 10 months.
One Lucky Man
Notably, what makes Steve Ballmer unique is that he is neither the founder nor CEO of Microsoft, in contrast to Elon Musk, Bernard Arnault, Jeff Bezos, and other prominent figures who owe their fortune to the firms they started or now run.
Ballmer has highlighted three important elements that have contributed to his success in addition to his incredible career. These include realizing the importance of luck, establishing inspiration, and cultivating a strong work ethic.
"I hate it when people say, 'Oh, I worked harder than everybody else, and I'm smarter than everybody else.' You need a little luck," he said in an episode of Podcast P with Paul George, as quoted by The Street.
Ballmer's path also had a luck element; during his sophomore year at Harvard, he met Bill Gates, which ultimately led to Microsoft hiring him. According to Forbes, he joined the tech company in 1980 as employee no. 30 after he dropped out from the Stanford MBA program. Eventually, Gates introduced him to Paul Allen, who owned the NBA team Portland Trailblazers. Ballmer said Allen inspired him to purchase the Los Angeles Clippers for $2 billion in 2014.
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