Mr. Ballmer, known for his wild antics, love of developers, and disdain for Apple earned $1,276,627 in the 2009 fiscal year, down approximately 5 percent from the $1,350,834 he earned the year before.  He got a slight boost in salary, to $665,833, but saw his bonus slashed by $100,000 to $600,000 (this bonus is reportedly performance based).

Steve Ballmer, unlike some executives receives no compensation in Microsoft shares.  He requested this when he took on the CEO position.  Not that he needs any more shares -- he already owns 408 million, placing his net worth at over $10B USD.

Microsoft is one company that has been careful to make sure its cuts are equitable and encompass its entire workforce.  Most of its high level management took cuts in 2009.  And for the new fiscal year (2010) that started in July, Microsoft has frozen salaries, in an effort to keep up with a challenging financial atmosphere.

The company saw its first ever drop in annual revenue, with 2009 revenue falling to $20.4B USD, down 9 percent.  This drop was largely thanks to a combination of its flagship products' struggles and the weak economy.  In the operating systems market, Microsoft's Windows Vista was a clear leader, but failed to generate energetic sales.  In the online search and MP3 player markets, Microsoft's search engine and Zune music player failed to gain much traction.  And the Xbox 360, despite strong sales, was eclipsed by the Nintendo Wii.

The new year may be one of vindication for Microsoft, though.  The new Zune HD is drawing rave reviews and may finally give the iPod a true sales competitor.  And in the operating system market Microsoft is preparing for an October 22 release of Windows 7, arguably the most highly anticipated operating system to date.  The new OS brings a host of speed ups, a smaller footprint, better security, and much-needed graphical flair.