Steve Ballmer facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Steve Ballmer
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Ballmer in 2014
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Steven Anthony Ballmer
March 24, 1956 Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
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| Known for | Former CEO of Microsoft Co-founder of Ballmer Group Owner of the Los Angeles Clippers |
| Spouse(s) |
Connie Snyder
(m. 1990) |
| Children | 3 |
| Relatives | Gilda Radner (2nd cousin) |
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Steven Anthony Ballmer (born March 24, 1956) is an American businessman and investor. He was the chief executive officer (CEO) of Microsoft from 2000 to 2014. He also owns the Los Angeles Clippers, a professional basketball team in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Steve Ballmer is a co-founder of Ballmer Group, a company that focuses on helping others. He is one of the richest people in the world.
Ballmer was hired by Bill Gates at Microsoft in 1980. He later became president of Microsoft in 1998. On January 13, 2000, he took over from Gates as CEO. Ballmer retired as CEO on February 4, 2014, and Satya Nadella became the new CEO. Ballmer stayed on Microsoft's board of directors until August 19, 2014. During his 14 years as CEO, Microsoft's sales tripled and profits doubled. However, the company faced challenges in new technology areas like smartphones.
Many players and sports writers think Ballmer's ownership has made the Clippers team much better. They point to his willingness to get top players and build a new arena called Intuit Dome.
Contents
Early Life and School Days
Steve Ballmer was born in Detroit, Michigan. His mother was Beatrice Dvorkin and his father was Frederic Henry Ballmer. His father worked as a manager at the Ford Motor Company. Frederic came to the United States from Zuchwil, Switzerland, in 1948. Steve's mother was the daughter of Shmuel Dvorkin, a Russian Jew who came to the U.S. in 1914. Through his mother, Steve is a second cousin to the famous actress and comedian Gilda Radner.
Ballmer grew up in Farmington Hills, Michigan. He also lived in Brussels, Belgium, from 1964 to 1967. There, he went to the International School of Brussels.
In 1973, he took college prep and engineering classes at Lawrence Technological University. He graduated at the top of his class from Detroit Country Day School. This is a private school in Beverly Hills, Michigan. He scored very high on the math part of the SAT test.
Ballmer went to Harvard University. While there, he was a manager for the Harvard Crimson football team. He also worked on the student newspapers, The Harvard Crimson and Harvard Advocate. He lived down the hall from Bill Gates, who would later become his boss at Microsoft. Ballmer did very well in a math competition called the William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition. He scored higher than Bill Gates in this competition. In 1977, he graduated with high honors. He earned a degree in applied mathematics and economics.
After college, Ballmer worked for two years at Procter & Gamble. He shared an office with Jeff Immelt, who later became the CEO of General Electric. He then tried to write screenplays in Hollywood for a short time. After that, he started studying for his MBA (Master of Business Administration) at Stanford Graduate School of Business. But he left in 1980 to join Microsoft.
Working at Microsoft
Steve Ballmer joined Microsoft on June 11, 1980. He was the 30th employee at the company. He was also the first business manager hired by Bill Gates.
When Ballmer joined Microsoft, he earned a salary of $50,000. He also received 10% of the profit he helped create. As Microsoft grew, this profit share became very large. Later, the company changed its structure. Ballmer then owned 8% of the company instead of getting a share of the profits. In 2003, Ballmer sold many of his Microsoft shares. This reduced his ownership to 4%.
During his first 20 years at Microsoft, Ballmer led several different parts of the company. These included operations, developing operating systems, and sales and support. In 1992, he became the Executive Vice President for Sales and Support. Ballmer also led the creation of Microsoft's .NET Framework. In July 1998, he was promoted to President of Microsoft. This made him the second most important person after Bill Gates.
As Chief Executive Officer (2000–2014)
On January 13, 2000, Ballmer officially became the chief executive officer. As CEO, Ballmer managed the company's money and daily work. Bill Gates remained the chairman of the board. Gates also kept control of the company's "technology ideas." In 2006, Gates stepped down from daily activities. This gave Ballmer more freedom to make big changes at Microsoft.
When Ballmer became CEO, Microsoft was dealing with a big lawsuit from the U.S. government. There were also many complaints from other companies. Ballmer made it a priority to settle these lawsuits. He said it was very uncomfortable for a company to be sued by its own government.
As CEO, Ballmer wanted clear business reasons for new products. He did not want to approve hundreds of products just because they sounded interesting. In 2005, he hired B. Kevin Turner from Walmart. Turner became Microsoft's Chief Operating Officer. He was hired to lead sales and marketing. He also helped bring more order to the company's operations.
After Bill Gates retired, Ballmer led a big change at Microsoft. The company moved away from focusing only on PCs. He changed many of the main leaders in the company. This helped break down old ways of working. By 2012, many said Microsoft had its best products ever. Ballmer also helped Microsoft's strategy of connecting devices. He oversaw buying companies like Skype.
During Ballmer's time as CEO, Microsoft's stock price did not grow much. This happened even though the company was doing very well financially. The company's yearly income grew from $25 billion to $70 billion. Its net profit increased by 215% to $23 billion. Microsoft also made 75 cents of profit for every dollar in sales. This was twice as much as Google or IBM. Ballmer's leadership helped the company's total yearly profit grow by 16.4%. This was better than other famous CEOs like Jack Welch of General Electric.
Microsoft's success came from its existing products like Windows and Office. Ballmer kept these products profitable. He also fought off challenges from competitors like Linux and Google Docs. Ballmer also built several new businesses. These included the data centers division and the Xbox entertainment division. The Xbox helped Microsoft compete with gaming consoles like the Sony PlayStation. Ballmer also built the company's $20 billion Enterprise Business. This included new products like Exchange, Windows Server, and SharePoint. These products became leaders in their areas. This mix of products helped Microsoft rely less on PCs.
Ballmer received some criticism for not focusing enough on new consumer technologies. Microsoft had to catch up in areas like tablet computers, smartphones, and music players. Some critics said Microsoft often had ideas for new technologies before Apple or Google. But they would stop promising projects if they might hurt their main products, Windows and Office. Some people even called Ballmer one of the worst CEOs in 2013.
In 2009, Ballmer gave the opening speech at the CES. This was the first time since Bill Gates stepped down from daily management.
As part of his plan to expand into hardware, Ballmer showed Microsoft's first computer device on June 19, 2012. It was a tablet called Microsoft Surface. Later, in September 2013, he announced that Microsoft would buy Nokia's mobile phone division. This was his last big purchase as CEO for Microsoft.
On August 23, 2013, Microsoft announced that Ballmer would retire within the next 12 months. A special committee, including Bill Gates, would choose the next CEO. On February 4, 2014, Satya Nadella became the new CEO.
Relationship with Bill Gates
Ballmer was Bill Gates' best man at his wedding to Melinda French. The two men often said their relationship was like a marriage. They were very close for many years. Some people at Microsoft even said they seemed to share thoughts. They often had strong debates, which was part of Microsoft's culture. These debates sometimes seemed like personal arguments.
In 2000, Gates was happy that Ballmer wanted to be CEO. This allowed Gates to focus on technology. However, there was some tension as Ballmer took over more power. Things became difficult at times. Once, Gates walked out of a meeting after a shouting match. Ballmer had defended some colleagues during the argument. The person who was there said Ballmer seemed "remorseful" afterward. Ballmer once said about Gates leaving, "I'm not going to need him for anything. That's the principle. Use him, yes, need him, no."
In October 2014, a few months after Ballmer left Microsoft, a magazine reported that Ballmer and Gates no longer talked. This was due to bad feelings about Ballmer's resignation. In a November 2016 interview, Ballmer said he and Gates had "drifted apart." He said they always had a "brotherly relationship" before. He also said that his push into the hardware business, especially smartphones, contributed to their friendship breaking down. Gates did not support this idea.
Retirement from Microsoft
In 2008, Ballmer had said he planned to stay CEO for another ten years. But in 2013, he announced his retirement. This came after the company lost billions of dollars on some purchases and on the Surface tablet. Microsoft's stock price went up when the news of his retirement was announced.
Ballmer later said he regretted not focusing enough on Windows Mobile in the early 2000s. This left Microsoft far behind in the smartphone market by 2013. He also said that the success of expensive iPhones was due to phone companies helping pay for them. He called buying Nokia's mobile phone division his "toughest decision" as CEO. This was because it showed Microsoft was changing to focus more on hardware.
Ballmer held his last company meeting in September 2013. He stepped down from the company's board of directors in August 2014.
Other Roles
Ballmer was a director at Accenture from 2001 to 2006. Accenture is a global professional services company.
Views on Other Companies and Software
Apple
In 2007, Ballmer famously said about the iPhone, "There's no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance."
In 2009, he criticized Apple's prices. He said that paying an extra $500 for a computer just to have an Apple logo was harder for people to do during a tough economy.
In 2015, when Apple became the world's most valuable company, Ballmer called Microsoft's decision to invest in Apple in 1997 "the craziest thing we ever did." This investment helped save Apple from bankruptcy.
In 2016, Ballmer explained his earlier iPhone comments. He said he thought the price of $600–$700 was too high. He did not realize that phone companies would include the cost in the customer's monthly bill.
Free and Open Source Software
In July 2000, Ballmer called the free software Linux kernel "communism". He also claimed it violated Microsoft's intellectual property. In June 2001, he called Linux a "cancer that attaches itself in an intellectual property sense to everything it touches." Ballmer was worried about the GNU General Public License (GPL). This license requires that any software built from GPL code must also be under the GPL.
In April 2003, he even interrupted his vacation in Switzerland. He personally asked the mayor of Munich not to switch to Linux. But he was not successful, and Munich switched to LiMux.
In March 2016, Ballmer changed his view on Linux. He said he supports his successor Satya Nadella's commitment to open source. He still believed his comments in 2001 were right for that time, but that times had changed.
In 2005, Microsoft sued Google for hiring one of its former vice presidents, Kai-Fu Lee. Microsoft said this broke his contract not to work for a competitor for one year.
In 2011, at a conference, Ballmer said: "You don't need to be a computer scientist to use a Windows Phone and you do to use an Android phone... It is hard for me to be excited about the Android phones."
In 2013, Ballmer said that Google was a "monopoly" and should be looked at by market competition authorities.
Sports Team Ownership
On March 6, 2008, the mayor of Seattle announced that a group of local owners, including Ballmer, would invest $150 million. This money was for a $300 million plan to fix up KeyArena. They also wanted to buy the Seattle SuperSonics basketball team to keep them in Seattle. However, this plan did not work. The SuperSonics moved to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and became the Oklahoma City Thunder.
In June 2012, Ballmer invested in a plan to build a new arena in Seattle. The goal was to bring the SuperSonics back to Seattle. On January 9, 2013, Ballmer and other investors tried to buy the Sacramento Kings basketball team. They wanted to move the team to Seattle. This attempt also failed.
After the Donald Sterling scandal in May 2014, Ballmer made the highest offer to buy the Los Angeles Clippers. He offered $2 billion for the team. This was the second-highest amount ever paid for a sports team in North America at that time. After a court confirmed that Shelly Sterling could sell the team, Ballmer officially became the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers on August 12, 2014.
On September 25, 2014, Ballmer said he would not allow the team to use Apple products like iPads. He wanted them to use Microsoft products instead. It was also reported that he had previously told his family not to use iPhones.
In March 2020, Ballmer agreed to buy The Forum in Inglewood, California. This purchase allowed him to build Intuit Dome nearby. Plans for a new Clippers' arena had been opposed by the former owners of The Forum.
In a survey in December 2020, Ballmer was voted the best owner in basketball.
Wealth and Giving Back
Steve Ballmer is one of the wealthiest people in the world. As of October 2023, his personal wealth was estimated at around $115 billion. On July 1, 2024, Ballmer's wealth even surpassed Bill Gates for a short time. Most of Ballmer's wealth comes from his shares in Microsoft.
Helping Others (Philanthropy)
On November 12, 2014, Ballmer and his wife Connie donated $50 million to the University of Oregon. Connie Ballmer went to the University of Oregon. The money will help with scholarships, public health research, and communications for the university. On November 13, 2014, it was announced that Ballmer would give about $60 million to Harvard University's computer science department. This gift would help the department hire new teachers and improve its program. Ballmer had previously donated $10 million to the same department in 1994, along with Bill Gates.
In 2022, Ballmer made another large gift of $425 million to the University of Oregon. This money will fund a new institute for children's behavioral health.
Ballmer is also on the World Chairman's Council of the Jewish National Fund. This means he has donated $1 million or more to this organization.
USAFacts
In 2017, Ballmer started USAFacts.org. This is a non-profit organization. Its goal is to help people understand how the U.S. government collects money, spends it, and its impact on society. He has given $10 million to fund teams of researchers. These teams fill the website's database with official government information.
Personal Life
Steve Ballmer married Connie Snyder in 1990. They have three sons together.
The Ballmers mainly live in Hunts Point, Washington. They own several homes in the Seattle area. As of 2024, they also own 10 properties near Coupeville, Washington.
See also
In Spanish: Steve Ballmer para niños
