Steve Ballmer
Former Microsoft CEO and owner of the Los Angeles Clippers.
Steve_ballmer_2007_outdoors2.jpg: Martin Olsson (username 'mnemo' on en/sv wikipedia and commons, [email protected]). derivative work: Off2riorob (talk) · via Wikipedia: Steve Ballmer · CC BY-SA 3.0
As of February 2026, Bloomberg estimated his wealth at around $145 billion, making him the thirteenth-richest person in the world.[1]
Quick Facts
- Birth name
- Steven Anthony Ballmer
- Born
- 24 March 1956
- Birthplace
- Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
- Education
- Harvard University (BA)
- Known for
- Former CEO of Microsoft
- Co-founder of the Ballmer Group
- Principal Owner of the Los Angeles Clippers
- Spouse
- Connie Snyder (1990)
- Children
- 3
- Relatives
- Gilda Radner (second cousin)
Facts from the source article.
Life and work
Under Ballmer's 14-year leadership, Microsoft tripled sales and doubled profits but lost market dominance in smartphones and other technologies.[2] On August 23, 2013, Microsoft announced Ballmer would retire within 12 months.[3] Satya Nadella succeeded Ballmer as CEO on February 4, 2014.[4] Ballmer purchased the Los Angeles Clippers for a reported $2 billion in 2014, then the second-highest bid for a North American sports franchise.[5][6]
In 1980, Bill Gates brought Ballmer onto the Microsoft team, which caused Ballmer to abandon his Stanford University MBA studies.[2] Ballmer attained the presidency of Microsoft in 1998, and on January 13, 2000, he succeeded Gates in the CEO role.[2][7] Acquisitions like Skype were part of the "connected computing" strategy that Ballmer promoted at Microsoft.[8] According to a December 2020 survey published by The Athletic, basketball owners ranked Ballmer as the top owner in the league.[9]
What the cited sources add
A BBC News article from 2000 states that Ballmer grew up in Detroit where his father, a Swiss immigrant, worked for Ford Motor Company.[7] The same article notes that Ballmer graduated from Harvard with a degree in applied maths and economics.[7] A 2009 Slashgear article reports that Ballmer criticized Apple's pricing, saying customers pay "$500 more to get a logo"[10] The same announcement explains that $25 million of the gift will establish an endowment for the PathwayOregon scholarship program.[11]
A 2014 announcement from the University of Oregon details that Connie Ballmer, an alumna, and her husband Steve donated $50 million to the institution.[11]
References
- Wikipedia, "Steve Ballmer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Bloomberg Billionaires Index", Bloomberg; "Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List", Forbes (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Steve Ballmer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Steve Ballmer: Chief Executive Officer", Microsoft, March 1, 2005; "Steve Ballmer, friend of Bill", BBC News, January 13, 2000; "Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to retire within 12 months.", Microsoft, August 23, 2013; "Microsoft Board names Satya Nadella as CEO", Microsoft, February 4, 2014; Eichenwald, "How Microsoft Lost Its Mojo: Steve Ballmer and Corporate America's Most Spectacular Decline", The Hive, July 24, 2012; Rigby, "Steve Ballmer ends run as Microsoft's relentless salesman", Reuters, August 23, 2013 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Steve Ballmer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to retire within 12 months.", Microsoft, August 23, 2013 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Steve Ballmer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Leonhard, "Microsoft's 13 worst missteps of all time", InfoWorld, January 14, 2013; Leonhard, "Game of thrones: The men who would be Ballmer", InfoWorld, November 19, 2012; Kopytoff, "Who will succeed Steve Ballmer at Microsoft?", Fortune, August 26, 2013; "Microsoft Board names Satya Nadella as CEO", Microsoft, February 4, 2014 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Steve Ballmer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Steve Ballmer Takes Over Ownership of Los Angeles Clippers", NBC News, August 12, 2014 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- "Steve Ballmer Fast Facts", CNN, March 11, 2015. facts only, no text reused. cnn.com
- "Steve Ballmer, friend of Bill", BBC News, January 13, 2000. facts only, no text reused. news.bbc.co.uk
- Wikipedia, "Steve Ballmer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Vance, "Steve Ballmer Reboots", Businessweek, January 12, 2012 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Steve Ballmer" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Vorkunov, "Who are the NBA's best and worst team owners? League insiders vote", The Athletic (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Davis, "Apple is no more than a $500 logo", Slashgear, March 20, 2009. facts only, no text reused. slashgear.com
- Klinger, "UO announces $50 million gift to fundraising campaign", OregonNews, November 12, 2014. facts only, no text reused. around.uoregon.edu
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Steve Ballmer (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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