Success story of Steve Ballmer; former Microsoft CEO

By Sanjay Maurya

Steven Anthony Ballmer is a businessman and investor from the United States who served as the CEO of Microsoft from 2000 to 2014. Currently, he is the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers (Basketball team). Ballmer ranked as the 21st-century businessman across the globe in January 2018. Steve Ballmer’s net worth was $40 billion USD in 2020, making him one of the world’s wealthiest CEOs.According to The New York Times, Ballmer once shouted ‘Windows! Windows!” so furious at a sales meeting in Japan that he ripped his vocal cords, requiring surgery.

Steve Ballmer

American businessman

Born: 24 March 1956 (age 65 years), Detroit, Michigan, United States
Height: 1.96 m
Net worth: 9,020 crores USD (2022) Forbes
Spouse: Connie Snyder (m. 1990)
Education: Harvard University (1977), MORE
Children: Sam Ballmer, Aaron Ballmer, Peter Ballmer
Parents: Frederic Henry Ballmer, Beatrice Dworkin
Known for: Former CEO of Microsoft

Steve Ballmer Early Life

Billionaire Steve Ballmer started out making only $50,000 at Microsoft — Steve Ballmer | Credit Image: CNBC

On March 24, 1956 – Steve Ballmer was born in Detroit, Michigan to Frederic and Beatrice Ballmer. His father worked for Ford Motor Company as a manager, and his family was well-off. Ballmer is half-Swiss and half-Jewish. In 1964, Ballmer spent three years in Brussels, where he attended the International School of Brussels. Ballmer enrolled at Lawrence Technological University in 1973 for college prep and engineering programmes. Ballmer went on to be valedictorian of Detroit Country Day School, a prestigious college preparatory school in Beverly Hills, Michigan, with SAT math score of 800 and was named a National Merit Scholar.

Beginning

Twitter's stock has traumatized former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer — Steve Ballmer | Credit Image: Mashable

“We don’t have a monopoly. We have a market share. There’s a difference.”

Steve Ballmer began his profession by finishing his schooling while still in school. Bill Gates, a college buddy of Ballmer’s, had dropped out to co-found Microsoft with his friend Paul Allen. He contacts Steve Ballmer for a summer job at his company after completing his first year of business school. Instead of a summer internship, Bill Gates urged Steve Ballmer to take full-time employment. Steve join hands with Microsoft in 1980 as employee No. 30 after dropping out of Stanford’s MBA program.

He restructured Microsoft’s partnership into a corporate structure. Gates later owns 53% of the company, while Ballmer owns 8%. In the year 1980, Ballmer assumed leadership of the Operating System, which is at the heart of the company’s operations. Microsoft became a publicly-traded company in 1986, and Ballmer became a multimillionaire. Ballmer maintained many key jobs at Microsoft over the next few years, and in the year 1992, he was made the Executive Vice President, Support, and Sales.

Ballmer was appointed to the role of President of Microsoft in 1988, a position he maintained until 2001. In the year 2000, he was chosen CEO of Microsoft. He took over the company’s finances and day-to-day operations. Microsoft records a phenomenal rise in profits at the time of Ballmer’s tenure as CEO.

Personal life

Life Lessons From Steve and Connie Ballmer — Steve Ballmer & Connie Ballmer| Credit Image: The Epoch Times

Born: 24 March 1956
Spouse: Connie Snyder (m. 1990)
Children: Sam Ballmer, Aaron Ballmer, Peter Ballmer
Parents: Frederic Henry Ballmer, Beatrice Dworkin

Meet Aaron Ballmer - Photos Of Steve Ballmer's Son With Connie Snyder | eCelebrityMirror — Sam Ballmer, Aaron Ballmer, Peter Ballmer | Credit Image: Ecelebritymirror

Steve Ballmer was appointed a Knight of the Legion of Honor by then French President Nicolas Sarkozy in 2011. When it comes to his personal life, Steve is married to Connie Snyder. The couple is the parents of three children. He and his wife, Connie, are ardent philanthropists who were once credited with donating more than $60 million to the University of Oregon’s development in 2014. In 1994, Ballmer and Bill Gates jointly donated $10 million to the computer science department of Harvard University. He also donated $60 million to the University of Oregon to help with public health research and scholarships.

Steve Ballmer Quotes

“The number one benefit of information technology is that it empowers people to do what they want to do. It lets people be creative. It lets people be productive. It lets people learn things they didn’t think they could learn before, and so in a sense, it is all about potential.”

“Accessible design is good design.”

“We will make our products work out of the box.”

“Our company has to be a company that enables its people.”

“One capability every business is expected to have is the capability to make money. It requires a certain kind of discipline, a certain kind of mindset.”

“Our mail product, Hotmail, is the market leader globally.”