My college buddy from down the hall, Bill Gates, gave me a call and said, hey, look, we've been building our company.

We need a business guy. We don't have a, quote, business guy, unquote.

And my vast business experience, ad manager of the school paper, football, team manager, publisher of the literary magazine in college,

plus learning a little bit about advertising at Procter, yeah, well, and man, oh man,

I was the big businessman, if you will, and, you know, we kind of grew from there.

Steve Balmer is a prominent American businessman and philanthropist, best known for his role as CEO of Microsoft from 2000 to 2014.

Microsoft grew to $80 billion in revenue under Balmer's tenure, and Balmer himself became an institutional figure in Silicon Valley, well known for his distinctive management style and marketing talent.

Beyond his corporate achievements, Balmer launched USA Facts in 2017, a nonprofit organization

dedicated to equipping Americans with the big data points on the biggest issues that face our

country today, like the economy, immigration, and health care. Balmer and his wife Connie also

co-founded the Balmer Group, whose philanthropic mission focuses on improving economic mobility for families

across the United States. Notably, Balmer also purchased the NBA's LA ClA. Clippers in 2014, where he has financed the construction of a brand new stadium and can often be found courtside at games. In today's episode, Balmer shares the circumstances of his upbringing in Detroit, Michigan, the early days of Microsoft, and his concerns about the public's wavering faith in the American dream. Balmer also discusses his work with USA Facts, his advice

to entrepreneurs, and the shifting landscape in big tech today. Steve's enthusiasm for business

and clear passion for his charitable work are all evident to those who meet him. Don't miss

hearing from Steve Balmer on this latest much for taking time. Really appreciate it.

My pleasure. Thanks for having me.

So I want to talk to you about USA Fax in just a few minutes, but I want to begin with sort of your business career, because that's how most people know you.

They either know you from your days at Microsoft or they know you as owner of the Clippers. I want to start with sort of the general idea of the American Dream. There's been a lot of talk politically from all sides about how the American Dream is dying, how it's dead. But your story is an American Dream story. So how does someone like you, you're, I guess the 30th employee at Microsoft, end up as the head of Microsoft,

CEO of Microsoft. Can you take us through that journey?

Yeah, maybe I'll give you more than you want. You cut me off if I go too long. And in a sense,

I'll say our two-generation story, if you will, is an American dream. My grandparents on my

mom's side were immigrants from what's now

...