Fortune reached out to Gates for comment.
Most employees never expect to earn more than their bosses. But Ballmer got his foot in the door at a lucky time, and for decades since, money has been percolating into his bank account.
Microsoft was in its early days when Ballmer joined as an assistant to the president in 1980—the 30th employee to join the growing technology company. He had dropped out of Stanford’s MBA program to take the job, and was offered a $50,000 base salary alongside 10% of any profit growth he generated at the business. Ballmer didn’t get a single share at the time, but the 10% cut proved to be extremely lucrative.
