If one thing has become clear in Bill Gates’ 50-year professional career, it is that he has good nose for businessalthough sometimes he has failed in his decisions. This has led him to remain for almost four decades in the top 10 of the greatest fortunes.
In his biographical book ‘Source code: My beginnings‘, the millionaire remembers what his biggest bet was: sign Steve Ballmer and offer you a good piece of the Microsoft pie.
United through the halls of Harvard
Bill Gates recalled in his book his years as a student at Harvard University in the fall of 1976, where the millionaire forged a close friendship with someone who, two decades He would later replace him at the helm of Microsoft.
Gates met Ballmer through a mutual friend in a Harvard graduate economics class. “Steve looks a lot like you,” his friend told him. Unlike the rest of the mathematics students, Gates was impressed with the personality of his new friend. “Steve had incredible energy and a unique ability to motivate people,” Gates has written.
I didn’t know it then, but that combination of skills made Ballmer the ideal candidate to help transform Microsoft from a small startup to a global corporation.
In those years, Ballmer was already pointing out ways in the direction of sports. He was responsible for the university’s football team, oversaw advertising for its student newspaper, and was president of Harvard’s literary magazine. Gates describes in his book how he remembered attending a football game and seeing Ballmer “expend as much energy walking back and forth and jumping up and down the side of the field” as any of the players who were playing.
Both companions they connected quickly and they became inseparable, chatting about the future, the power of business and how to revolutionize the world. Of course, among their big plans, they developed their particular strategy for success: skipping economics classes, and hurriedly studying at the last minute just before taking the exam…and passing it “triumphantly.”
The millionaire says in his biography that the charismatic Ballmer was responsible for expanding Gates’ social circle during his time at Harvard, and introduces Bill Gates to the Fox Club. As the millionaire describes in his book, this club was known for its “black tie parties, secret handshakes, and other archaic rules and rituals,” which the Microsoft founder would have avoided if it weren’t for his effusive friend Ballmer.
Steve, come to Microsoft
In 1980, Bill Gates made a decision that would change the course of Microsoft and the technology industry. Gates needed a strategist, a partner who could handle the sales department to sell the product, while he focused on the technology. This is where Gates recalled Ballmer’s good social skills.
In principle, the young founders of Microsoft were willing to offer up to 5% of the shares of their new company to recruit Steve Ballmer as a director. Finally, and thanks to Ballmer’s undeniable negotiating talent, Gates ended up agreeing to give him the 8.75% of Microsoft shares.
Gates reflected on this decision years later: “Giving Steve those shares was one of the best decisions I ever made.” Microsoft’s success in the decades that followed demonstrated the wisdom of this choice, cementing the company’s position as a leader in the technology industry.
The founder of Microsoft recognized the importance of having someone like Ballmer, who had a business vision complementary to his. “We needed someone who could help us grow as a business,” Gates explained in his memoirs. This decision demonstrated Gates’ long-term vision and willingness to sacrifice immediate gains for greater future benefit.
The incorporation of Ballmer had a profound effect on the trajectory of Microsoft, beyond showing signs of the energy that conquered Gates. sweating his shirt on stageor doing for Gates to lose his shame in order to increase your sales.
Ballmer’s years of leadership at the head of Microsoft cannot be considered the most brilliant of the company, which did not know how to rise to the top. mobile phone train.
Ballmer returned to his passion
After leave the world of technology and with 8.75% of the shares of a Microsoft catapulted to the financial success thanks to Satya NadellaSteve Ballmer has been able to dedicate himself body and soul to his passion: basketball.
Bought the equipment of the NBA Los Angeles Clippers and that has led him to become the eleventh largest fortune in the world according to the Forbes millionaires list. Steve Ballmer has a net worth of 121.3 billion dollars, surpassing in wealth to his friend and mentor Bill Gates.
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Image | Flickr (Wired Photostream, World Bank Photo Collection)
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