What’s Life Like When Your Dad Is Microsoft’s CEO? A Look at Life With an Ultra-Rich Parent
Written by
Cameron Diiorio
Edited by
Travis Woods
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The life of a billionaire is mysterious and sometimes alluring to those of us who make an average yearly salary.
Successful ex-CEO of Microsoft Steve Ballmer is now known for his role as the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers. But what is life like for his son, Pete (who sometimes goes by the last name Bronson to avoid being associated with his father’s name)?
Steve Ballmer is no stranger to adversity. A former classmate of Bill Gates, Ballmer dropped out of Stanford’s MBA program to become Microsoft’s employee number 30 and eventual CEO. Even as a young college dropout, Ballmer possessed business acumen and a talent for navigating through tough positions.
“Ballmer ran Microsoft as CEO after the first dot-com crash and through efforts to catch up to Google in search capabilities and Apple in mobile phones,” said Forbes.
After stepping down as Microsoft’s CEO in 2014, Ballmer purchased the Los Angeles Clippers NBA team. Since then, the team has been able to recruit expensive stars and has one of the highest luxury tax payments in the league.
It is no secret that Ballmer is one of the richest men in the world. So what was life like for his son, Pete Ballmer?
Though he may have hundreds of thousands in Microsoft stock options and the ability to fix any financial mistake with the snap of a finger, Pete Ballmer was raised humbly.
“As a kid, [Ballmer] got $10 a week for allowance. When he got older, he drove a 1998 Lincoln Town Car his father passed down to him,” said Business Insider in an article.
His mother grew up in rural Oregon, and Steve Ballmer himself came from a middle class upbringing. It seems the Ballmer family wished to instill values beyond the importance of money in their children.
While some decisions may cause strain on the average person’s bank account, Ballmer does not face this problem due to his generational wealth. “He can ‘wipe financial errors’ like last-minute flight changes without worrying about the cost,” Business Insider noted.
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