Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is now just as rich as his former boss Bill Gates. Here's how he spends his billions.

Ballmer is one of the richest sports
 team owners in the world.AP

It's not often an employee becomes richer than a company's founder, but that's just what happened this week — at least briefly — with Bill Gates and his former assistant.

Steve Ballmer's wealth leapfrogged that of Gates, his former boss and Microsoft's cofounder. Bloomberg's Billionaires Index showed Ballmer's pulling ahead was short-lived, though: The men are now both worth $158 billion, as of late Friday, according to the index, which is sure to move again as the markets fluctuate.

Ballmer joined Microsoft in 1980 as the company's first business manager and climbed the ranks to become CEO in 2000, succeeding Gates in the position. Ballmer remained CEO until 2014, when he passed the baton to Satya Nadella.

By Sarah Jackson.

Full story at Yahoo News.