Steve Ballmer Fast Facts
CNN Editorial Research
(CNN) — Here is a look at the life of Steve Ballmer, former CEO of Microsoft.
Personal
Birth date: March 24, 1956
Birth place: Detroit, Michigan
Birth name: Steven Anthony Ballmer
Father: Fred Ballmer, manager for Ford Motor Co.
Mother: Bea (Dworkin) Ballmer
Marriage: Connie Snyder (1990-present)
Children: Three sons
Education: Harvard University, B.A., 1977, double major in Mathematics and Economics; Attended Stanford University Graduate School of Business, 1979-1980
Other Facts
Became friends with Bill Gates while at Harvard University.
Worked for Procter & Gamble as assistant product manager before Microsoft.
Met his wife, Connie Snyder, while both were working at Microsoft.
Timeline
1980 – Begins his Microsoft career as a business manager and is the company’s 24th employee.
July 1998-February 2001 – President of Microsoft.
January 13, 2000 – Is named chief executive officer when Gates steps down to concentrate on philanthropy.
February 4, 2014 – Steps down as Microsoft CEO.
May 29, 2014 – Ballmer signs a binding agreement to buy the Los Angeles Clippers for $2 billion from the Sterling family trust.
August 12, 2014 – Ballmer becomes the official owner of the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers, according to Ballmer’s attorney, Adam Streisand. The negotiated $2 billion sale price is a record at the time for an NBA team.
August 19, 2014 – Steps down from the Microsoft board of directors in order to concentrate on the Clippers.
October 16, 2015 – Announces he has bought a 4% stake in Twitter during the past few months, becoming one of its largest shareholders.
2015 – The Ballmers found the Ballmer Group, a philanthropic organization focusing on civic activism and economic mobility.
June 4, 2016 – Along with Brandt Vaughan, founds USAFacts Institute. Ballmer later describes the work of the institute as creating a “10-K for the government,” according to a Bloomberg interview.
March 1, 2022 – The University of Oregon launches The Ballmer Institute for Children’s Behavioral Health. The institute is founded through a $425 million donation from the Ballmers.
October 19, 2022 – The Ballmers announce they will invest $400 million with organizations focused on Black-owned businesses. The organizations are Fairview Capital, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, GCM Grosvenor and Ariel Alternatives’ Project Black.
March 7, 2024 – Ballmer announces the formation of an umbrella brand called Halo Sports and Entertainment that includes the LA Clippers, their G-League affiliate team, Intuit Dome and KIA Forum.
September 2025 – During an episode of the podcast “Pablo Torre Finds Out,” Ballmer and the Clippers are accused of circumventing the NBA salary cap rules after a company called Aspiration paid Clippers star Kawhi Leonard $28 million. Ballmer previously invested tens of millions of dollars in Aspiration. A lawsuit filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court by investors in Aspiration claims Ballmer participated in a scheme to “secretly funnel compensation to Leonard via a sham endorsement deal.” On January 12, 2026, attorneys representing Ballmer file a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, calling the allegations “patently false.” The NBA is also investigating the allegations.
September 2, 2026 – Following an independent investigation that revealed a “pattern of misconduct” and severe salary cap circumvention violations, the NBA fines the Los Angeles Clippers $30 million, docks them five consecutive first round draft picks starting in 2029 and suspends three top officials, including Ballmer who is suspended for one year from all league and team activities. In a sharp rebuttal, the Clippers organization vehemently rejected the league’s findings, calling the probe a “heavily biased investigation seeking to justify a predetermined narrative rather than facts and evidence.”
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