Gates, Ballmer Get Pay Raises

Microsoft's chairman and chief software architect, Bill Gates, earned $901,667 during the company's 2004 fiscal year, up 4.4 percent from a year ago.

Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's CEO, earned the same amount and got the same raise in the fiscal year ended June 30, the company said in a filing Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Both had base salaries of $591,667 in 2004 and earned bonuses of $310,000, the company said in the filing. In the 2003 fiscal year, they earned base salaries of $550,000 and had bonuses of $313,477.

The company also disclosed that Gates owns 10.09 percent of Microsoft shares, while Ballmer owns 3.78 percent.

In February, Gates was listed as the richest person in the world by Forbes magazine for the 10th straight year. Ballmer was No. 19.

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