In the past three decades, Microsoft has become one of the most successful software company, making Bill Gates the richest person in the world. The people behind the success of Microsoft stuck with it since the beginning of the company and has been a part of it till now. It is not only Bill Gates who is responsible for the rise of Microsoft, but people like Steve Ballmer have also been the strongest pillar of the Microsft empire. From the product manager to the CEO of Microsoft, Steve has also seen tremendous success with the success of Microsoft.
Early Life
Ballmer was born as Steven Anthony Steve Ballmer, on 24 March 1956, in Detroit, Michigan, to father Beatrice Dworkin and mother Frederic Henry Ballmer. His father worked as the manager at the Ford Motor Company. He spent three years of his childhood in Brussels, where he attended the International School of Brussels. After coming back to Detroit, he joined the Detroit Country Day School. Being a bright student, Ballmer was able to win a scholarship after scoring 800 marks in the mathematical section of the SAT.
After completing his school, Ballmer joined Harvard University and earned a B.A. degree in applied mathematics and economics. In the college, he not only excelled in studies but also, acted as an important part of various college activities and clubs.
After graduating from Harvard University, he started working as the assistant product manager at Procter & Gamble. After working for two years in the same position, Ballmer decided to go back to school, and pursue a master’s degree. Hence, he enrolled in the Stanford Graduate School of Business in California.
Journey with Microsoft
Ballmer had met Bill Gates at the Harvard University, as he was also a fellow student there. In fact, Ballmer scored more than Bill Gates, in an exam conducted by the Mathematical Association of America’s. The time he was studying at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, in California, Bill Gates offered Ballmer the position of the 30th employee and the first Business Manager of Microsoft. Ballmer left his studies in between, and joined the company, on $50,000 salary and a small share in the ownership of the company.
Besides securing the position of the Business Manager of Microsoft, Ballmer also held the positions in the operations, operating systems development, and sales and support, in the company. In 1993, Ballmer became the Executive Vice President, of the Sales and Support department of Microsoft.
In July 1998, he was appointed at the second highest position of the company, becoming the President of Microsoft. He was also the head of the .NET Framework development team.
On 13 January 2000, Bill Gates handed over the position of the CEO to Ballmer, continuing as the chairman of the board, and the chief software architect of Microsoft. At the time Ballmer was the CEO of the company, Microsoft saw a huge surge in the profits and annual revenues of the company. Ballmer became one of the most successful CEO, and his performance made him top the list of the most efficient CEOs of all time.
Ballmer as the CEO of Microsoft started various new businesses and introduced the competitor of Sony Play Station, i.e., the Xbox, to the world. He also created the most powerful services, under the name of Microsoft, such as Exchange, Windows Server, SQL Server, SharePoint, System Center, and Dynamics CRM. Also, he led the many beneficial acquisitions of his time including Skype.
By the end of 2012, few of Ballmer’s decisions, as the CEO of the company, resulted in bad backfires, resulting in criticism. In fact, he was named one of the worst CEO’s by the BBC, in 2013. Even with the criticism, he was able to accomplish the major acquisition as CEO for Microsoft, by acquiring the Nokia’s mobile phone division, in September 2013. On 4 February 2014, Ballmer retired as the CEO of Microsoft and also resigned from the Board of Directors of Microsoft, on 19 August 2014.
Personal Life
Ballmer is married to Connie Snyder, since 1990. He along with his wife and three sons live in Hunts Point, Washington. After retiring from Microsoft, he purchased the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers in a bid of $2 billion, on 29 May 2014. He is also in philanthropy, and donated $50 million to the University of Oregon, in 2014 and US$1 million the Jewish National Fund, becoming a member of its Chairman’s Council.
Yashica is a Software Engineer turned Content Writer, who loves to write on social causes and expertise in writing technical stuff. She loves to watch movies and explore new places. She believes that you need to live once before you die. So experimenting with her life and career choices, she is trying to live her life to the fullest.