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Steve and Connie Ballmer connected Ballmer Group
This week connected 60 Minutes, analogous Jon Wertheim profiled Steve Ballmer, the erstwhile Microsoft CEO and existent proprietor of the Los Angeles Clippers.
Ballmer is consistently ranked among the world's apical billionaires but doesn't pb the high-flying beingness of immoderate of his peers.
He bought a hoops team, which helium admits is an extravagance, but helium has nary superyacht, nary caller wardrobe, and nary caller spouse. And Ballmer is giving distant billions of dollars done a philanthropy helium runs with his wife, Connie, called the Ballmer Group.
In an interrogation astatine their location successful Washington, Steve and Connie Ballmer shared their imaginativeness for that philanthropy.
Steve Ballmer, who held connected to astir of his Microsoft banal aft stepping down arsenic CEO successful 2014, has seen his nett worthy soar past $100 billion.
Connie Ballmer felt powerfully that work came with each that bully fortune.
She archetypal pitched the thought of a philanthropy to her hubby 10 years ago, but Steve, by his ain admission, was skeptical.
In essence, helium felt that the authorities could grip the organisation of resources successful the U.S. He felt the backstage assemblage couldn't lucifer the effectiveness of authorities and could not alteration people's lives connected a nationalist scale. He said that, implicit time, Connie changed his thinking.
"Government does proviso astir each the wealth to assistance people. [But] philanthropy has a relation successful helping to bash impervious points, beryllium wherever things are going, and measurement successful wherever authorities won't go," Steve told Wertheim.
In 2015, the mates co-founded the Ballmer Group aft Steve retired from Microsoft.
The Group's ngo is to amended economical mobility, peculiarly for kids and families successful disadvantaged communities.
"We were some incredibly fortunate to beryllium calved successful this state astatine this clip and person truthful overmuch privilege," Connie told Wertheim. "Children person nary voice. And they don't get to ballot connected wherever they're calved and wherever they live."
Her hubby agrees. "Every kid deserves a shot," said Steve. "Not each kid's going to beryllium successful. But if you're calved with parents who are little affluent, you should inactive person an accidental to prosecute your dreams."
This twelvemonth alone, the Ballmer Group has fixed distant much than fractional a cardinal dollars.
They've taken a "cradle-to-career" approach, investing successful a wide assortment of causes: from aboriginal puerility and K-12 acquisition to assemblage entree and readiness, career, workforce, and lodging initiatives.
In 2022, the Ballmer Group gave $175 cardinal to a nonprofit called StriveTogether that connects section communities to a nationwide network. The 2 organizations tin stock information and find resources to amended acquisition and vocation outcomes for young people.
The Ballmers accidental they're particularly connected to the communities that they person idiosyncratic links to, similar Los Angeles County, location of the Clippers; Washington state, wherever they live; southeast Michigan, wherever Steve was calved and raised; and Oregon, wherever Connie went to college.
Through the philanthropy, the mates has pumped $23 cardinal into Partnership for Los Angeles Schools and $24 cardinal into the Boys and Girls Club of America.
In 2022, Connie's alma mater, University of Oregon, was fixed a $400 cardinal assistance to make the Ballmer Institute of Children's Behavioral Health.
Wertheim asked the Ballmers what a "win" looks similar and however they measurement success.
"Each country is different," Connie said. "[But] if we person little assemblage violence. If we person much teachers of colour successful schools that request them. If we person much precocious schoolhouse graduation rates. If we person amended kindergarten readiness."
At the extremity of the interview, Wertheim changed topics. Steve already owns 1 pro sports franchise. Could different beryllium connected the horizon?
"I told him that helium and his adjacent woman would person a bully clip with that," Connie said with a laugh.
Steve Ballmer, successful a acceptable of laughter, changeable the thought down: "No, sir."
"We've got capable sports…I tin springiness my passionateness to this. I tin enactment connected the philanthropy."
The video supra was primitively published connected October 13, 2024. It was produced by Will Croxton and was edited by Sarah Shafer Prediger.
Will Croxton is simply a integer shaper astatine 60 Minutes.
English (US) ·