How Steve and Connie Ballmer are giving away billions

60 Minutes Overtime. Just take a look at it. It's an interesting ball. Oh, now I can't miss with this. This week on 60 Minutes, we profiled Steve Ballmer, the boisterous former Microsoft CEO who now owns the LA Clippers NBA team. He's consistently ranked among the world's top billionaires, but he doesn't lead the high-flying life of some of his contemporaries. He bought the basketball team, which is certainly an extravagance, but he's also giving away billions through a philanthropy he runs with his wife, Connie. Oh, the tech companies. We sat down with the Ballmers to talk about who they're helping with that unfathomable wealth. By all accounts, you've been instrumental in leading this and getting Steve maybe to change his thinking about the role of government versus philanthropy. What was the conversation like? The original conversation was my invitation, my encouragement for him to join me so we could do more in the country, across the country. I had been working philanthropically for 10 years, mostly in Washington state, and he tried to tell me that the government was going to handle it, and I said, I don't think that's the best way to approach this. And it turned out we were both right. Government does supply almost all the money to help people, and philanthropy has a role in helping to do proof points, prove where things are going, and step in where government won't go. The Ballmer Group, a philanthropy run by Steve Ballmer and his wife, Connie, grants money to organizations that reduce social and economic inequality, particularly in the lives of children. To date, through the philanthropy, the Ballmers have given away almost $7.5 billion in areas like early childhood education, housing, and maternal health. A lot of your work seems very focused on child poverty and lack of opportunity. Why is that such a priority for you? Oh my gosh, why not? I mean, children have no voice, and they don't get to vote on where they're born, and where they live, and how they do, and it's the future of our country. So it's a passion of mine, always has been. Every kid deserves a shot. Not every kid's going to be successful, but if you're born with parents who are less affluent, you should still have an opportunity to pursue your dreams. And Connie started focusing on some of the tougher issues with foster kids, but we both seem pretty unified that this is great stuff to do. We were both incredibly fortunate to be born in this country at this time, and have so much privilege, and so I think both of us came forward and said, goodness, we have more than we need. It just makes sense to figure out ways that we could share it. What does a win look like to you? Each area is different. If we have less community violence, if we have, you know, more teachers of color in schools that need them, if we have more high school graduation rates, if we have better kindergarten readiness. It really is kind of grant by grant. You can't look back and say, well, people's economic mobility this year was a two, and next year it's going to be a 2.3. We can't do population level measurement, but place by place, you know, grant by grant, we can do that. As our interview wrapped, I couldn't help but wonder if Bomber was eyeing another sports team, a local one in Seattle, and what his wife might think of that. I said, your husband has been spotted outside the NFL offices every now and then. There might be a team in Seattle coming up for sale. How does that play with you? I told him that he and his next wife would have a good time with that. I haven't been outside an NFL office for 10 years, dude. You're not getting the Seahawks. No, sir. They're going to be dramatic changes. No, sir. We've got, as Connie likes to say, and I agree with her, we've got enough sports. One pro sports team is enough. I think that's enough.