- Pete Ballmer, son of the former CEO of Microsoft, talks about what it was like growing up with a rich dad.
- The product manager-turned-comedian said he faced unwanted attention and discriminatory treatment.
- Still, due to his parents' modest upbringing, he does not spend his wealth lavishly.
Pete Ballmer, one of former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's three sons, gets real about what it's like growing up with an ultra-wealthy father on a recent episode of the podcast Cash Cuties. told.
“I've been deeply uncomfortable with all of this for a long time,” Pete Ballmer said in an interview published earlier this month.
Steve Ballmer, who led the software giant from 2000 to 2014, had a net worth of $121 billion as of February 27, according to Forbes.
The billionaire's son — a 29-year-old stand-up comedian and former project manager — remembered receiving preferential treatment until his mid-20s.
He remembers visiting the Statue of Liberty as a child with his family and sitting right next to a long line of visitors waiting to order food, in the roped-off, upscale dining area that was “nice.'' I remember eating “Lunch Spread”.
“When you become a billionaire, people will put their foot down for you,” Ballmer said.
Ballmer also received a lot of unwanted attention. Ballmer clearly remembers his teammates yelling “Apple is better” as they made their way through the handshake line after a middle school lacrosse game.
During a basketball game, one of my teammates brought up his father and said, “I would risk my life to be in your shoes.''
His discomfort with family ties continued into adulthood. He said that when he first started doing stand-up in college, he changed his stage name to “Pete Bronson” to avoid association with his father.
“It wasn't something I wanted to be a part of,” Ballmer said. “It was frustrating that people would instill that in me.”
Of course, money was never an issue. Ballmer said his father was already president of Microsoft when he was born and that he was promoted to CEO when he was nine years old.
Pete Ballmer said his grandfather gave him a “significant percentage” of Microsoft stock, and by the time he was 25 it was worth “hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
He grew up on fun family vacations and in a house with five bathrooms. He even convinced his father to buy the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team.
That doesn't mean Ballmer doesn't think of money as disposable. Given his parents' upbringing (his mother grew up on a farm in rural Oregon, his father in a middle-class family), Bronson internalized the belief that cash should be used wisely.
As a child, he received an allowance of $10 a week. Growing up, he drove his 1998 Lincoln Town car, which he inherited from his father.
Ballmer spends millions on convenience services like “stupid and irresponsible” Uber rides and DoorDash takeout to save time and support his career as a full-time stand-up comedian. He said he was taking advantage of generational wealth.
He can “wipe out financial errors” such as last-minute flight changes without worrying about costs.
“I don't want people to look at my car and think, 'He has money,'” Ballmer said.
Mr. Ballmer seems aware of his unusually privileged upbringing, but joked that his honor can only take him so far.
Towards the end of the episode, he recalled the time he was wooing a woman in Las Vegas by telling her that her father was the CEO of Microsoft.
“I need to get another phone number,” she said and walked away.
Correction February 28, 2024: A previous version of this article incorrectly described how Pete and Steve Ballmer discussed money. Pete Ballmer said he and his father had discussed finances with the host twice in the past 10 years. A moderator won't be present every time they talk about money.