He has all the money in the world, but the NBA’s richest owner is living the dream as he is set to receive another $1billion for doing precisely nothing

Steve Ballmer is the richest owner in the NBA (Image: Getty Images)

Los Angeles Clippers’ owner and former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is set to earn another $1billion (£790m) for doing nothing.

Ballmer is, by far, the wealthiest owner in the NBA, with a purported net worth understood to be an extraordinary $122bn (£96.5bn). To put this into further context, the owner with the next highest bank account is Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert, who is worth $25bn (£19.78bn).

The 68-year-old made his billions thanks to his 34-year tenure at Microsoft where he was hired as a business manager, becoming just the 30th employee in the company’s history.

While Ballmer retired from the company in 2014 to venture into the sports world with the Clippers, the Detroit native is still banking colossal numbers due to his time with the technology corporation.

Ranked as the sixth richest person in the world, according to Forbes, Ballmer’s wallet is set to get a whole lot of fatter as he’s due to collect $1bn in dividends from Microsoft this year.

With a net worth of $122billion, Steve Ballmer is the richest owner in the NBA (Image: Getty Images)

The huge payout comes after the tech giants boosted their quarterly dividend payout to 75 cents a share, or $3 a share annually.

Thanks to Ballmer having owned 333.2 million shares of the company as of 2014 (the last time he had filed an ownership disclosure and appears to have adjusted his Microsoft stock), which is the equivalent of a 4% stake, the businessman is set to receive a fee just shy of $1bn in the fiscal year of 2024.

The 68-year-old has owned the Los Angeles Clippers since 2014 (Image: Getty Images)

Ballmer will pocket the extra billion simply due to him owning the stock, with his fee to remain that gigantic regardless of how it performs on the stock market. His payout, however, will be subject to the standard 20% tax that is placed upon dividends for individuals who earn a taxable income of $500,000 a year or more.

According to ProPublica, Ballmer reported $656m (£519m) in income to the Internal Revenue Service in 2018 with a further $200m (£158m) to come out of his pocket due to the tax rule.