How did Steve Ballmer get so rich?

Microsoft CEO: "Mobile first, cloud first" Microsoft's new CEO Satya Nadella will be paid handsomely for his services. At today's stock price, he could take home as much as $17.2 million this year, and $30.4 million a year starting in 2015. At that rate, Nadella will likely be among the top 5 highest paid tech CEOs.Feb 4, 2014 read more

Then he held on to his stock, rather than sell it over time like Bill Gates and Paul Allen did, even though his percentage of the company was far less than theirs. So after the stock went through its IPO and climbed through the 1980's and 1990's, Ballmer accumulated substantial wealth -- almost entirely in Microsoft stock. read more

Steve Ballmer at Mobile World Congress 2010. On January 13, 2000 Ballmer was officially named chief executive officer. As CEO, Ballmer handled company finances and daily operations, but Gates remained chairman of the board and still retained control of the "technological vision" as chief software architect. read more