Microsoft CEO Ballmer’s Salary Up 4 Percent in ’09

By Dena Cassella Published June 15, 2018

Microsoft Corp. says it raised CEO Steve Ballmer’s salary by 4 percent in fiscal 2009 as the software maker’s profit plunged 17 percent on weak personal computer sales. Ballmer’s salary rose to $665,883 from $640,833, according to a preliminary filing Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The CEO’s bonus was $700,000 last year.

Microsoft didn’t disclose Ballmer’s bonus for fiscal 2009. In an uncommon move, the company’s board proposed a “say-on-pay” measure that would give shareholders a chance to weigh in every three years on executive compensation. Microsoft’s 2009 earnings fell to $14.6 billion from $17.7 billion in 2008. Sales dropped 3 percent to $58.4 billion, the first time its revenue declined since it went public in 1986.

Topics

Microsoft

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Haole built. O'ahu grown

Computing

Microsoft warns that the latest Windows 11 update may crash PC games now

Gaming PC on a desk.

Microsoft has once again temporarily halted the rollout of its latest major Windows 11 update, also known as 24H2. This time it is for systems running select Ubisoft games following widespread user reports of crashes and performance issues. The affected titles include Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Assassin's Creed Origins, Assassin's Creed Odyssey, Star Wars Outlaws, and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora.

Common complaints include black screens, freezing, and unresponsiveness during gameplay or while loading these titles. "I just bought a new gaming laptop with RTX 4080, Intel i9 14900hx. I can't play the game (Origins) even for 5 minutes because it crashes to a black screen, with audio, and the only way to close it is from task manager. Impossible to play," one user shared on Reddit. Others reported similar frustrations, citing the persistent error “NTDLL.dll” that renders their games unplayable.

Computing

With Copilot Actions, Microsoft brings AI agents to Outlook, Teams, and more

microsoft expanding ai agents 365 copilot early 2025 actions2

Microsoft plans to roll out a slew of new features for its business-facing 365 Copilot products starting early next year, the company announced during its Microsoft Ignite 2024 event on Tuesday.

365 Copilot, which was rebranded from just Copilot in September, enables businesses to incorporate Microsoft Copilot generative AI into its Microsoft 365 family of apps (as well as in Teams) for a $30/employee/month subscription.

Computing

Microsoft calls Recall one of ‘the most secure experiences’ it’s ever built

Recall promotional image.

As part of its Ignite 2024 announcements, Microsoft has provided an update on how its AI-powered Recall feature will work in the context of an IT department. Noting that the company has "heard your feedback," specifically in terms of it needing it to be more "secure and controllable," Microsoft claims to have gotten its ducks in a row for the launch of its controversial new Windows 11 feature.

Microsoft says that Recall "will ship with meaningful security enhancements, including additional layers of data encryption and Windows Hello protection, making it one of the most secure experiences we have ever built." Whether or not this will be enough to satisfy the security community, however, is still to be determined.