--- description: Find out why Steve Ballmer and Connie Ballmer is on the TIME100 Most Influential People in Philanthropy 2025 list. title: TIME100 Philanthropy: Steve Ballmer and Connie Ballmer image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt85bb5ca39ec5e32a/6998c6c01f6709d81ef56650/T100PHIL-Titans-Steve-and-Connie-Ballmer.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- May 20, 2025 # Steve Ballmer and Connie Ballmer Wildfire relief by [Steve Friess](/author/steve-friess/) ## Steve Friess Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  Kevin Mazur—Getty Images Los Angeles was still smoldering on Jan. 30 when Steve and Connie Ballmer turned Intuit Dome, home court of the NBA’s L.A. Clippers, into a stage for Lady Gaga, Stevie Wonder, Billie Eilish, and other A-listers as part of a two-venue mega-concert, FireAid, which raised about $100 million for wildfire relief, including a dollar-for-dollar match by the Ballmers of all donations during the six-hour show, on top of $15 million they had pledged on Jan. 15. Until then, Ballmer Group, the nonprofit created in 2015 after Steve retired as CEO of Microsoft, was largely guided by Connie’s passion for helping at-risk children through education and economic mobility programs. That work continues, too, with active grants to more than 500 wide-ranging efforts from providing tuition for people studying to become teachers, to backing a mentorship program for kids in HeadStart programs. But, as their generosity amid the wildfires reflects, the couple will pivot, as needed. A decade and more than $7 billion in grants into their lives as philanthropists, the Ballmers are widening their focus at the urging of their oldest son, Sam—and, in the process, seeding a second generation of philanthropy. In October, they launched Rainier Climate Group, a $1 billion initiative to combat climate change that Sam, a passionate environmentalist, will oversee. TIME100 Philanthropy: Steve Ballmer and Connie Ballmer ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-philanthropy-2025/7286089/steve-ballmer-connie-ballmer/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-philanthropy-2025/7286089/steve-ballmer-connie-ballmer/"},"headline":"Steve Ballmer and Connie Ballmer","datePublished":"2025-05-20T11:29:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:48:31.889Z","description":"Find out why Steve Ballmer and Connie Ballmer are on the TIME100 Most Influential People in Philanthropy 2025 list.","url":"https://time.com/collections/time100-philanthropy-2025/7286089/steve-ballmer-connie-ballmer/","keywords":["list","franchise"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt85bb5ca39ec5e32a/6998c6c01f6709d81ef56650/T100PHIL-Titans-Steve-and-Connie-Ballmer.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Steve Friess","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/steve-friess/"}],"creator":"Steve Friess","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt85bb5ca39ec5e32a/6998c6c01f6709d81ef56650/T100PHIL-Titans-Steve-and-Connie-Ballmer.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-philanthropy-2025/7286089/steve-ballmer-connie-ballmer/","name":"Steve Ballmer and Connie Ballmer"}}]}] ```