In transient: Microsoft firm man Steve Ballmer’s fortune has surpassed that of co-founder and onetime boss Bill Gates, making him the sixth richest particular person in the world with a net worth of $158 billion. Holding on to that Microsoft inventory over the long run has paid off large for Ballmer.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Ballmer is now worth greater 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 newest rally is straight tied to Microsoft’s spectacular inventory run this yr. Since January, Redmond shares have surged 22 %, which is nice information when roughly 90 % of your net worth is tied up in Microsoft inventory.
Interestingly sufficient, Ballmer did not obtain any fairness when he joined Microsoft in 1980. Instead, he obtained a base wage of $50,000 and “10 % of revenue progress” he might generate. That proved untenable and finally, Ballmer gave it up in change for eight % of firm inventory. He at the moment owns round 4 % of the tech big whereas Gates has round one %.
When Ballmer left Microsoft in 2014, he advised Forbes he’d wish to personal shares till both he offers them to charity or he dies. At just 68, it may very well be some time earlier than the latter occurs.
Ballmer’s $158 billion fortune is about six billion in need of Google co-founder Larry Page’s net worth. Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg is the fourth wealthiest particular person with a portfolio worth $181 billion. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is the second richest particular person in response to Bloomberg, because of a net worth of $222 billion. Still, they’re all chasing Elon Musk and his large $241 billion net worth.
Ballmer’s new place marks the first time his net worth has surpassed that of Gates, and it is certainly one of the uncommon instances in historical past when an worker finally ends up being wealthier than the founding father of the firm he labored for. According to Fortune, Ballmer is the solely particular person with a net worth over $100 billion that made his cash as an worker slightly than a founder.