I’m The Boss Now: Ex-Employee Overtakes Bill Gates As 6th Richest Man in The World

When Bill Gates decided to hire Steve Ballmer as the first business manager at Microsoft, he probably didn't see the day when Ballmer would leapfrog him on the billionaire's index. 

Yet, here we are, with Ballmer now perched as the richest former Microsoft CEO, edging out Gates by a hair. Thanks to a roaring AI-driven stock rally, Ballmer’s net worth has ballooned like the cost of a meal at Five Guys.

Ballmer’s net worth has now soared to an eye-popping $157.2 billion, making him the sixth richest person on the planet. This marks the first time he's outpaced Gates, who’s no beggar himself with a fortune of $156.7 billion. 

The key difference? Ballmer’s wealth is almost entirely tied up in Microsoft shares, while Gates has diversified his portfolio like a hedge fund manager at an all-you-can-invest buffet.

Microsoft’s stock has been on a tear, thanks to the company hitching its wagon to Artificial Intelligence. The shares have surged 22% this year alone, catapulting Ballmer’s wealth to new heights. 

Over 90% of his riches come from his hefty Microsoft stake—a testament to sticking with what you know (and showing that sometimes, staying in the rate race pays off with a wheelbarrow full of cheddar).

On the flip side, Gates has taken a different approach. Sure, he’s still got plenty of skin in the Microsoft game, but about half of his wealth is tied up in Cascade Investment. 

Among other things, it holds a $21 billion stake in Republic Services, a waste-management company. Because even billionaires need someone to take out the trash.

While Ballmer’s wealth graph looks like a meme coin during a bull run, Gates has been playing a long game of giving it all away.

Alongside his ex-wife Melinda French Gates and their buddy Warren Buffett, Gates has funneled billions into the Gates Foundation, turning it into a $75 billion philanthropic behemoth.

And when Gates isn’t buying up all of America’s farmland and releasing mosquito plagues (because nothing says “philanthropist” like controlling the world’s food supply and insect population)... he spends his time pushing the Giving Pledge, urging the world’s wealthiest to donate the majority of their fortunes either during their lifetimes or in their wills.

Ballmer, meanwhile, is no stranger to charity but hasn’t signed onto the Giving Pledge. Instead, he’s focused on his own projects. After stepping down as Microsoft’s CEO in 2014, he scooped up the Los Angeles Clippers for a cool $2 billion. Fast forward to today, and that investment is worth a dazzling $4.6 billion. He even just built an arena for his NBA team that cost more than the purchase of the team.

Ballmer is one of the few billionaires who didn’t found a company but climbed the corporate ladder all the way to the penthouse suite. So what’s the lesson here? If you kiss your boss's butt enough, and get him coffee every morning, maybe you can become a billionaire as well.

Stocks.News has positions in Microsoft.