Steve Ballmer, the former CEO of Microsoft Corporation, has surpassed Bill Gates to become the sixth-richest person in the world, marking the first time Gates has been outranked in wealth by his former colleague. This shift occurred on Monday as Microsoft shares reached a new record high, driven by a 21% increase in value this year.
Ballmer’s net worth now stands at $157.2 billion, with over 90% of his wealth tied to Microsoft shares. The company’s recent success is largely attributed to its partnership with OpenAI, positioning it as a major beneficiary of the artificial intelligence boom that has propelled the US stock market.
In contrast, Gates’ $156.7 billion fortune is more diversified. Approximately half of his wealth is managed through Cascade Investment, created from Microsoft stock sales and dividends. He also holds a significant $21 billion stake in Republic Services Inc., a waste-management company, through Cascade.
The wealth gap between the two tech titans has been influenced by their differing approaches to philanthropy. Gates, 68, has been steadily reducing his fortune through charitable giving. Along with his ex-wife Melinda French Gates and Warren Buffett, he has contributed billions to the $75 billion Gates Foundation, one of the world’s largest charitable organizations. Over the past two decades, Gates and his former wife have donated nearly $60 billion from their personal wealth.
Gates, French Gates, and Buffett also founded the Giving Pledge in 2010, encouraging the world’s wealthiest individuals to commit to donating the majority of their fortunes. Ballmer, also 68, has not signed this pledge and engages in philanthropy on a smaller scale compared to Gates.
The two billionaires’ paths at Microsoft have been intertwined for decades. Gates co-founded the company with Paul Allen in 1975 and led it until 2000, when Ballmer, one of Microsoft’s earliest employees, took over as CEO. Ballmer retired in 2014, becoming Microsoft’s largest individual shareholder that same year.
Ballmer’s wealth has also been boosted by his 2014 purchase of the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers for $2 billion, an investment now estimated to be worth $4.6 billion.
This change in wealth rankings reflects the dynamic nature of tech fortunes and the impact of personal choices regarding wealth management and philanthropy among the world’s ultra-rich.
Credit: Economictimes.indiatimes.com
