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Steve Ballmer, Proof Loyal Employees Can Be The Richest People in the World

Jakarta, CNN Indonesia

Steve Ballmer seems to have succeeded in breaking the stereotype of being richest man in the world by pursuing a career as an employee of a company.

Look, unlike the richest people in the world in general, who are rich in inheritance or hard work building a business, Ballmer actually became a billionaire because of the stock ownership options he received from where he worked.

It is true that little by little it becomes a hill. Ballmer, who is passionate about collecting company-given shares, is now lined up to be the 9th richest person in the world this year, up from 14th in 2021.

Ballmer is also the second person in the world after the late Roberto Goizueta, former CEO of The Coca-Cola Company, to become a billionaire from owning company shares, but not as a founder or investor buying shares.

Collect Forbes, Wednesday (20/4), Ballmer’s wealth reached US $ 91.4 billion or equivalent to Rp. 1,311 trillion (exchange rate of Rp. 14,350 per US dollar). His wealth rose 33 percent when compared to the previous year, which was US $ 68.7 billion.

How did Ballmer build his career to become the richest man? Here’s the story.

The owner’s full name Steven Anthony Ballmer was born in Detroit, Michigas, USA, on March 24, 1956 ago. His father, Frederic Henry Ballmer, was a manager at the Ford Motor Company, as well as a Swiss immigrant, whose ambition was for his son to attend Harvard. While his mother, Beatrice Dworkin, a Belarusian Jew.

Ballmer is known as a smart kid. He was educated at the Brussels international school in 1964-1967. In fact, he beat Bill Gates’ score in the William Lowell Putnam math competition.

In 1977, he graduated from Harvard University with honors cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in applied mathematics and economics. From there, he started working as an assistant manager at P&G and briefly tried writing screenplays in Hollywood.

It was only on June 11, 1980, that Ballmer explored a career at Microsoft. He became the 30th employee when Bill Gates’ company was just starting and became the company’s first business manager. The company offers a salary and ownership of 8 percent of the stock.

His stock continues to grow thicker, along with the increase in salary and position. On January 13, 2000, he took over as CEO of the company.

He became the second person to handle the company’s finances and operations after Gates assumed the position of chairman of the board.

Three years after becoming CEO, Ballmer sold 39.3 million of his shares, equivalent to US$955 million, leaving only a four percent stake in his pocket. In fact, at that time the company was gaining scintillating performance. Ballmer’s leadership is also touted to outperform other top CEOs.

Ballmer’s career has not been without its challenges. He was judged to have failed to take advantage of the new technology. In fact, the BBC had named Ballmer as one of the worst CEOs in 2013, a year before he decided to retire.

[Gambas:Video CNN]

Owner of the NBA LA Clippers


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