Former Microsoft CEO’s fortune surpasses Bill Gates
Steve Ballmer, the American businessman who was the chief executive officer of Microsoft between 2000 and 2014, surpassed Bill Gates to become the 6th richest person in the world.
The former CEO of Microsoft Corp. has become richer than the company’s co-founder for the first time.
Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s chief executive officer between 2000 and 2014, became the 6th richest person in the world.
While Microsoft shares broke a record, shares have risen 21 percent since the beginning of the year. Microsoft, in partnership with OpenAI, was one of the companies that benefited the most from the artificial intelligence rally on the US Stock Exchange.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, more than 90 percent of Ballmer’s net worth of 157.2 billion dollars is in Microsoft shares.
Bill Gates, on the other hand, diversified his $156.7 billion fortune: About half of it is in Cascade Investment, which was created with proceeds from Microsoft share sales and dividends.
Through Cascade, Gates also owns a $21 billion stake in waste management company Republic Services Inc.
Gates, 68, founded the $75 billion Gates Foundation, one of the largest charitable organizations in the world, with billions of dollars of his personal fortune with his ex-wife Melinda Gates and close friend Warren Buffett.
Gates founded Microsoft in 1975 with his friend Paul Allen and ran the company until 2000, when Ballmer, one of the company’s first employees, succeeded him as CEO.
Ballmer retired in 2014, the same year he became Microsoft’s largest shareholder. In 2014, Ballmer bought the NBA team L.A. Clippers for 2 billion dollars.
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