In brief: Microsoft company man Steve Ballmer’s fortune has surpassed that of co-founder and onetime boss Bill Gates, making him the sixth richest person in the world with a net worth of $158 billion. Holding on to that Microsoft stock over the long term has paid off big for Ballmer.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Ballmer is now worth more than Google co-founder Sergey Brin, investor Warren Buffett, Dell founder Michael Dell, Nvidia boss Jensen Huang, and Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison.
Ballmer’s latest rally is directly tied to Microsoft’s impressive stock run this year. Since January, Redmond shares have surged 22 percent, which is great news when roughly 90 percent of your net worth is tied up in Microsoft stock.
Interestingly enough, Ballmer didn’t receive any equity when he joined Microsoft in 1980. Instead, he got a base salary of $50,000 and “10 percent of profit growth” he could generate. That proved untenable and ultimately, Ballmer gave it up in exchange for eight percent of company stock. He currently owns around four percent of the tech giant while Gates has around one percent.
When Ballmer left Microsoft in 2014, he told Forbes he’d like to own shares until either he gives them to charity or he dies. At just 68, it could be a while before the latter happens.
Ballmer’s $158 billion fortune is about six billion short of Google co-founder Larry Page’s net worth. Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg is the fourth wealthiest individual with a portfolio worth $181 billion. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is the second richest person according to Bloomberg, thanks to a net worth of $222 billion. Still, they’re all chasing Elon Musk and his massive $241 billion net worth.
Ballmer’s new position marks the first time his net worth has surpassed that of Gates, and it’s one of the rare times in history when an employee ends up being wealthier than the founder of the company he worked for. According to Fortune, Ballmer is the only person with a net worth over $100 billion that made his money as an employee rather than a founder.
