Steve Ballmer the sixth richest person in the world, is due to collect Rs. 8300 crore as passive income from Microsoft in 2024. This huge sum of money is coming his way because Microsoft has decided to pay its shareholders more in dividends. Ballmer owns a significant chunk of Microsoft's shares, about 333.2 million shares, which equals 4 per cent ownership of the company. Because of this ownership, he gets a share of the company's profits as dividends, no matter if Microsoft does well or not in the market.
However, there's a downside to this massive income: taxes. Based on Ballmer's previous income reported to the IRS, it's estimated that he might have to pay around $200 million in taxes on these dividends. This is because there's a 20 per cent tax on dividends for individuals who earn $500,000 or more each year.It's not just Ballmer who's making a fortune from this. Warren Buffet’s investment company, Berkshire Hathaway, is also set to receive a whopping $6 billion in dividends for the year. This huge income comes from the dividends paid by various companies Berkshire Hathaway has invested in, including big names like Chevron, Bank of America, Apple, Coca-Cola, Kraft Heinz, and American Express. Steve Ballmer was an American business executive who served as the chief executive officer of Microsoft from 2000 to 2014.
Ballmer played a key role in the company's early growth and success, particularly with the development of the MS-DOS operating system. He became president of Microsoft in 1998 and CEO in 2000. During his tenure as CEO, he oversaw the launch of major products like Windows XP, Xbox, and Zune. He stepped down as CEO in 2014.Since leaving Microsoft, Ballmer has been active in philanthropy and investing. He is the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and co-founded the Ballmer Group, a philanthropic investment company. He is also a significant shareholder in Microsoft.Ballmer is considered one of the most successful CEOs in business history.