Microsoft Trims Gates', Ballmer's Bonuses

Microsoft cut bonuses to Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer because of stalled profit gains, according to filings made to the Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday.

Gates, the Redmond, Wash. company's chairman, and Ballmer, its chief executive, each earned $616,667 in salary during the 2006 fiscal year, which closed June 30. Bonuses added another $350,000 to each man's compensation.

Their bonuses were down 14 percent from 2005's $400,000.

Kevin Johnson, the co-president of Microsoft's platforms group, also took a hit, taking in a $500,000 bonus for 2006, down $50,000 from the year before.

The proxy statement filed with the SEC prior to Microsoft's Nov. 14 annual shareholders' meeting also noted that Gates owns 957,499,336, shares of the technology giant, or 9.73 percent of all outstanding shares. Ballmer, meanwhile, holds 408,252,990 shares, or 4.15 percent. At Wednesday's prices, Gates' holdings were worth $26.7 billion, while Ballmer's totaled $11.4 billion.Wednesday, Microsoft's stock closed at $27.94, a six-month high. As of Thursday morning, it was off 9 cents to $27.85.