Steve and Connie Ballmer have made what’s believed to be their largest political contribution to date, giving $7 million to a political action committee connected to Everytown for Gun Safety, a national gun control group co-founded by former New York City Mayor (and erstwhile presidential candidate) Michael Bloomberg.
The contribution, made in early April, is the latest move by the Ballmers to fund efforts to end gun violence. Previous efforts include a successful 2014 initiative to boost background checks for gun purchases in Washington state, which was backed by contributors including Ballmer and his former Microsoft colleagues Bill Gates and the late Paul Allen.
A spokesperson for The Ballmer Group confirmed the contribution. It was first noted by Teddy Schleifer of Recode as part of a larger report on political contributions by prominent figures from the tech industry.
NEW — @Steven_Ballmer has made his biggest disclosed political donation ever.
Ballmer, the former CEO of Microsoft & the owner of the Clippers, gave $7 million to Everytown for Gun Safety, the gun control group started by Mike Bloomberg.
Ballmer's previous biggest check? $32k. pic.twitter.com/kmNhbHlima
— Teddy Schleifer (@teddyschleifer) July 16, 2020
The Ballmers have made significantly larger philanthropic donations through The Ballmer Group over the years, focusing largely on improving economic mobility for people in poverty in the US, but Federal Election Commission records indicate that this is their largest political donation yet. Although FEC records list Steve Ballmer alone as the contributor, the Ballmer Group spokesperson said the contribution was made by both Steve and Connie Ballmer.
A recent LA Times article about the Ballmers recounted a tour of Los Angeles that they were given by Nina Revoyr, who leads the Ballmer Group’s philanthropic work in the LA area: “At Markham Middle School, she pointed out a berm running the length of its soccer field. It wasn’t landscaping, but for children to drop behind to avoid gunfire. Steve Ballmer was stunned.”
Ballmer, the former Microsoft CEO, is chairman of the LA Clippers NBA team and founder of USAFacts, a nonpartisan, nonprofit civic data initiative.
Among the government stats reported by USAFacts is the number of firearm deaths in the country, which rose from fewer than 29,000 in 2000 to nearly 40,000 in 2017, remaining steady in 2018, the most recent year for which data are available. Firearm deaths are up over the last decade even when adjusted for population increases.
GeekWire partnered with Ballmer and USAFacts on the Numbers Geek podcast.
