Steve Ballmer

And then the lady who works here, ex-Microsofty, who works here in finance, who's the woman who sort of really charts what's going on financially at Microsoft, she and her boss, who's another ex-Microsofty who used to work with me most closely on the financial stuff, but she says, you can't sell. You can't sell. This is going to be worth a lot more. You can't sell. You can't.

So she effectively made a Microsoft stock pick. She made us, and she was recommending, she had some, she has loyalty too. It's not like, you know, we have a bunch of Microsofties here and it's not like they lack loyalty either, but it was a little bit loyalty and a lot a pick. And I, I said, look, my loyalty is, trumps my emotional attachment.

So she effectively made a Microsoft stock pick. She made us, and she was recommending, she had some, she has loyalty too. It's not like, you know, we have a bunch of Microsofties here and it's not like they lack loyalty either, but it was a little bit loyalty and a lot a pick. And I, I said, look, my loyalty is, trumps my emotional attachment.

I can get through my emotional attachment, but my loyalty, and look, I think of the thing as, I think of the thing as like a two-headed hydra. I thought about this the whole way. Things could go to nothing or things could explode. And that's partly why we tamped down the stock because we always saw the possibility for either of two radically different outcomes.

I can get through my emotional attachment, but my loyalty, and look, I think of the thing as, I think of the thing as like a two-headed hydra. I thought about this the whole way. Things could go to nothing or things could explode. And that's partly why we tamped down the stock because we always saw the possibility for either of two radically different outcomes.

And then finally I say, look, I don't really, I'm not going to sweat whether we're going to get the downside or the upside.

And then finally I say, look, I don't really, I'm not going to sweat whether we're going to get the downside or the upside.

I had enough money off the table. It's not like my family's going to... You could still run one of the best philanthropies of all time, even if the stock... We could be great in our... I hear you want to... No, I mean, Connie would have been okay with it. I mean, she finds it difficult to give away as much money as we have. So she wouldn't have mind a smaller problem to start with.

I had enough money off the table. It's not like my family's going to... You could still run one of the best philanthropies of all time, even if the stock... We could be great in our... I hear you want to... No, I mean, Connie would have been okay with it. I mean, she finds it difficult to give away as much money as we have. So she wouldn't have mind a smaller problem to start with.

She would have been okay.

She would have been okay.

Yeah, and one other thing. Yeah, Microsoft hold, but you may be missing one thing on the Microsoft hold that's important, and that's the size of the dividend check. Ah. Between Microsoft and the other stuff I own, the dividend checks are pretty close to what we give away.

Yeah, and one other thing. Yeah, Microsoft hold, but you may be missing one thing on the Microsoft hold that's important, and that's the size of the dividend check. Ah. Between Microsoft and the other stuff I own, the dividend checks are pretty close to what we give away.

So you can fund the whole philanthropy without selling additional shares. Well, there's two things that are going on. One, the dividend checks are pretty good. And number two, I do have stuff that's not in Microsoft.

So you can fund the whole philanthropy without selling additional shares. Well, there's two things that are going on. One, the dividend checks are pretty good. And number two, I do have stuff that's not in Microsoft.

Clippers slash Arena index funds. I have one business I invested in with a guy who I... went to college with, who worked at Microsoft. It's called Stagwell Media. It's a marketing services company. You'd call it a modern-day ad agency, but it's not really an ad agency. A guy named Mark Penn. So I do have some money that's not in index funds, but mostly I'm in index funds.

Clippers slash Arena index funds. I have one business I invested in with a guy who I... went to college with, who worked at Microsoft. It's called Stagwell Media. It's a marketing services company. You'd call it a modern-day ad agency, but it's not really an ad agency. A guy named Mark Penn. So I do have some money that's not in index funds, but mostly I'm in index funds.

Yeah, but if you look at the guy, I mean, look, I would say you probably would find that Zuckerberg is pretty concentrated. I don't know this, but I'm going to guess you would find, I don't know about Ellison, but obviously some of the guys who own more privately held businesses, pretty concentrated.

Yeah, but if you look at the guy, I mean, look, I would say you probably would find that Zuckerberg is pretty concentrated. I don't know this, but I'm going to guess you would find, I don't know about Ellison, but obviously some of the guys who own more privately held businesses, pretty concentrated.

Who else? Yeah. The Google guys, I imagine, are concentrated, but I don't know that. I mean, I can't speak for anybody else. Obviously, Bloomberg is concentrated.