Steven Ballmer is the person who led Microsoft for 14 years (2000-2014). Surprisingly, he was not a relative of one of the founders and did not stand at the origins of its occurrence. Surely many will have questions: "How did he succeed?" and “What kind of person is this?” Well, in this article you will be presented with the life story of Steve Ballmer. So let's get started.
Relatives
Steve’s maternal grandfather spent almost his entire life in Belarus. With the outbreak of World War I, the Jewish family, along with other refugees, was forced to wander around Russia. Then they split up: some of the relatives settled in Pinsk, building a bakery there, and all the rest emigrated to the United States.
Ballmer Steve was born in Detroit in 1956. The boy’s mother was a local resident, and his father, Frederick, emigrated from Switzerland and worked as a manager at Ford Motor. The stubbornness and will of the father had a strong influence on the character of Steve. He was an example to the boy in everything.
Study
After graduating from school in 1973, Ballmer Steve realized that he could only get his father's profession at Harvard. During his studies, the young man was engaged not only in attending various courses and in studying literature. He actively participated in student life: he headed the football team, published in a couple of local publications, etc. With hard work, he earned respect and authority, gradually becoming one of the best students. And here is the result of his determination - a bachelor's degree (economics and mathematics) and a diploma with honors.
But more important was another event that occurred within the walls of the institution. Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer met at Harvard. This had a significant impact on the life of a young man and predetermined his career.
First work
After graduating in 1977, Ballmer Steve got a job at Procter and Gamble. For two years, he served as assistant manager for sales and production of products. Ballmer was devoted to the matter with all his heart, but the employees of the company did not have such zeal. Therefore, Stephen decided to leave the company.
Stanford Business School
In 1979, the young man entered the Stanford Business School. Before the start of classes, Ballmer actively communicated with Bill Gates. At that time, Microsoft was already quite competitive, but Stephen did not even think to work there. His decision to study was firm and well thought out. And he went to business school.
Work searches
After completing the first year, Ballmer Steve began to look for work for the summer. First of all, he turned to the Ford company, where he proposed his own developments in the field of creating investment projects. But in the 80s, the US automotive industry was in crisis, and work in this area did not promise any prospects. And at that moment in the life of Stephen appeared Bill Gates, who urgently needed a manager. The young man made a radical decision: he left the business school and went headlong into the field of information technology.
Steve Ballmer at Microsoft
His work in the company began in June 1980. Then the staff was only 23 employees. Gates offered him $ 50 thousand per year plus shares of the company. By the way, at the moment, 80% of Steve’s own funds are stored in Microsoft shares.
After 18 years, Ballmer became president of the corporation. And in January 2000, after the departure of Bill Gates, Stephen took over as executive director, where he worked for another 14 years. In addition to Gates himself, he worked at Microsoft for the longest time. And now, thanks to the work done, the phrases “Ballmer Steve”, “Information Technologies” and “Computer Revolution” have become synonymous.
Criticism
In mid-2011, at a conference in New York, David Einhorn, head of the Greenlight Capital major hedge fund, announced that the hero of this article needed to resign. The main reason was as follows: it was because of Ballmer’s decisions that the software giant significantly slowed down the pace of development and lost ground in IT markets. Einhorn believes that Stephen’s work led to many years of price stagnation in Microsoft shares and the loss of a significant part of the market for mobile computers and Internet services. Greenlight Capital owns 9 million shares of this company, therefore the hedge fund is interested in the development of the company, and not in its regression.
Two years later, it became known about the upcoming departure of Ballmer from the post of executive director, which happened in 2014.
Personal qualities
Stephen is known for his demanding staff. The enthusiasm, discipline and energy of Ballmer, who has a reputation for being a dynamic, sincere, purposeful person with a great sense of humor, has been passed on to all Microsoft employees over the years. Steve stated: “I want the entire staff of the company to share my enthusiasm for our services and products. “I want everyone to realize what enormous opportunities are included in our programs that make business successful, and rest - more interesting and eventful.” To recognize the superiority of Microsoft products over others, Ballmer is ready to randomly gesticulate and scream. The leadership and enthusiasm of this person was manifested from the very beginning of his work in the company.
On the other hand, Stephen was always short-tempered and eccentric. This is confirmed by hundreds of publications in the press and on the Internet about the lawsuit between Google and Microsoft. Employees who chose Google as their new place of work eloquently spoke of Steve's intemperance. At the time of the statement of resignation, they had to listen to offensive phrases and dodge the furniture flying in them. Ballmer himself commented on this as over-inflating a minor incident.
Personal life
Microsoft has helped Ballmer not only in his career, but also in his personal life. He married an employee of this firm named Connie Schneider, who worked in the public relations department. The girl gave birth to Steve three children.
Interesting fact
There is another very interesting point that not every published biography reveals. Steve Ballmer plays Halo on the Xbox. This computer game in the FPS genre was developed by Bangui, and Microsoft released it in 2001.
Current work
Immediately after leaving the corporation, Stephen acquired the Los Angeles Clippers basketball club, which he still runs today. The deal amounted to $ 2 billion.