Steve Ballmer started at Microsoft (MSFT) as Bill Gates’ assistant in 1980, when he was employee number 30. He later went on to become its CEO at the height of the dot-com bubble. His unmatched energy and passion for all things Microsoft was on full display at his infamous product launches.
Unfortunately for Ballmer, Microsoft’s stock price did not match that energy. He announced his retirement in 2013, after losing billions of dollars on acquisitions and on the Surface tablet. Microsoft's stock price rebounded on the news, in part contributing to the billions he ultimately made in Microsoft employee stock options - enough to buy the Los Angeles Clippers.
You can now find the 67-year-old mostly courtside, rooting for his team and leading the charge at non-profit USAFacts, which aims to provide in-depth insight into the country's economy. "Tone gets set at the top. We're hardcore, we're going to win. We're about maximizing our chance to win championships," Ballmer said of the Clippers.
Ballmer is also focused on government transparency through USAFacts.
Ballmer talks with Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi about his leadership style and how it has evolved over the years.
“I've decided I want to be more like an executive chairman than like a CEO in my new life. That means we have people who really run things,” Ballmer said.
For the full conversation with Ballmer, click here. For more of our Lead This Way series, click here, and tune in to Yahoo Finance every Thursday at 3 p.m. ET.
Video Transcript
STEVE BALLMER: What you want to do is control your controllables. You can control how hard you work. If you're going to get into something, get after it. Yes!
[MUSIC PLAYING]
BRIAN SOZZI: When it comes to business titans, Steve Ballmer is an OG. He was employee number 30 at Microsoft where he started as Bill Gates' assistant in 1980. By 2000, he was named CEO at the top of the dotcom bubble.
STEVE BALLMER: I love this company! Yeah!
BRIAN SOZZI: His rallying cries at Microsoft product launches became legendary, ditto his behind the scenes hustle and nearly unmatched love for all things Microsoft.
STEVE BALLMER: 1, 2, 3, go! Yeah!
BRIAN SOZZI: Unfortunately, for Ballmer, Microsoft's stock price did not match his energy. He's now a regular fixture on the hardwood, as the owner of the La Clippers, while also pushing for transparency on Capitol Hill through his nonprofit USAFacts. Through it all, Ballmer has led with his trademark energy, conviction, and passion.
Who is Steve Ballmer, the leader today compared to 20 years ago?
STEVE BALLMER: Yeah, I'm involved with three things primarily-- people focus in on the basketball team, the La Clippers, obviously, USAFacts. X going to basketball games, I probably spend more time with my wife working on our philanthropy. There's two principles. Principle number one is I've decided I want to be more like an executive chairman than like a CEO in my new life.
That means we have people who really run things. That's an adjustment for me as a leader. I'm used to having my hands on everything. So it's been-- it was an adjustment. I'm a little more of a micromanager, let's just say it that way. But it's a different style of leadership. You could say you delegate in a big business, but you don't delegate final responsibility. You don't delegate culture. I've delegated those things.
BRIAN SOZZI: How do you build a successful culture as a leader?
STEVE BALLMER: You sort of have to pick the culture you want. And then people who like the culture come and stay. And people who prefer other culture leave. Now you say you need a diversity of thought and I believe that. So there's a little bit of a delicate balance. But you need to think or at least behave. Culture is to some degree what you think, and it's a lot in terms of how you behave. If the kind of culture we want to have here doesn't fit, you should move on.
Do we have any Clipper fans here?
You know, with the Clippers, you know, tone gets set at the top. We're hard core. We're going to win. We're about maximizing our chance to win championships.
BRIAN SOZZI: Steve, is that your best advice to the next generation of leaders to be hard core and work your ass off, and you will find success?
STEVE BALLMER: I can't guarantee you'll find success, whatever success means to you. I think it's a good way to do the ride. But things take some good ideas, a lot of hard work, some luck. I mean, people deny the importance of luck. So in a sense, what you want to do is control your controllables. You can control how hard you work. And you might come up with the right idea. You might not. But you can control how hard you work.
Are we getting more safe or better educated, provided for in our old age? I was looking for sources. And then I said, geez, I'd really like to understand the government more broadly by the numbers.
BRIAN SOZZI: So USAFacts is why you are in DC. It's why we are in DC doing this interview, what are you working on there?
STEVE BALLMER: USAFacts is a project that I started, I don't know, maybe nine years ago. My wife and I were talking about the role of government and serving kids and families that are sort of in unfortunate circumstances. I said I'm going to figure out what government really does.
And so I set out to see, by the numbers, what, who pays taxes, what the money gets spent on, some sense of wealth transfer. We don't try to forecast the future. But what we do is we provide data, facts. They're facts because they're about what happened.
BRIAN SOZZI: You recently met with politicians and key DC lawmakers, what's the response to what you're doing and what is their view on the data that people ingest right now?
STEVE BALLMER: It's not my first time in. We try to do a trip to DC every year. There's generally two reactions. There's some people who say how do we, government, do better at presenting our own data to make sure we have the right data.
- The bill is passed.
STEVE BALLMER: One of the things I'm kind of championing is every time a bill gets passed, there ought to be three or four numbers that people look at. And they need to come in real time. A lot of government numbers come a year or two years late. And there's certainly folks in government are super interested on how to evolve data, the use of data, the integration of data into process.
BRIAN SOZZI: These new folks that have joined your team, how do you encourage innovation from them?
STEVE BALLMER: I think, at least, my role in that is to keep asking, are there better ways to do this. Just ask questions. Ask questions. Have we thought about this way of using AI? What about this way of using AI? What about visualizations? What can we do better in the kinds of things we do to visualize government data? What are the visualizations that are really going to help people along that path? And how do we continue to push those?
BRIAN SOZZI: Lastly, what is your-- what's your leadership legacy?
STEVE BALLMER: I'm not big on the word legacy. It's not my-- it's not my thing. If you say outside of my kids and my family and my friendships, what will I feel most proud about, I mean, it's going to be-- I was employee 30 at Microsoft and really making Microsoft the company it is. We helped change the world. I have a lot of pride in that.
