Steve Ballmer As amazing as this might be to believe, not everything that is Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is evil. In fact, CEO Steve Ballmer has been a champion of the shareholders' cause for much of the past decade. Ballmer, who has received just $6.23 million in total compensation in the past five years, relies on dividends and his large position in Microsoft's stock to pad his income. The great part here is that if Ballmer wants a raise, he simply needs to raise the dividend, rewarding himself and shareholders. It should be no surprise then that Microsoft's dividend has doubled since 2005 and now yields a handsome 2.3% annually.