Steve Ballmer Blasts Founder He Backed Who Pleaded Guilty To Fraud: ‘i Was Duped And Feel Silly’

Silicon Valley tends to tolerate a definite magnitude of laminitis exaggeration erstwhile pitching investors, often dismissing it arsenic portion of trading a vision. But immoderate choices transverse nan statement and tin lead to jailhouse clip for founders and ungraded for their investors.

A lawsuit successful constituent is Joseph Sanberg, whose erstwhile high-flying fintech startup Aspiration Partners was backed by a roster of tech celebrities, including erstwhile Microsoft CEO and existent Clippers proprietor Steve Ballmer. In August 2025, Sanberg pleaded blameworthy to 2 counts of ligament fraud and defrauding aggregate investors and lenders, nan U.S. Department of Justice said successful a property release. Each count carries a maximum condemnation of 20 years successful prison.

Ahead of sentencing, which is scheduled for Monday, victims were invited to picture their acquisition pinch Sanberg to nan judge. Ballmer did so, and publicly. Ballmer’s lawyers said successful nan missive that he has mislaid money, been vilified, and that nan NBA is investigating allegations stemming from nan association.

Sanberg co-founded greenish fintech startup Aspiration Partners, which offered what it called sustainable banking services for illustration in installments cards and finance products that avoided fossil fuels. The startup promised to “automatically works trees pinch each paper purchase.” In 2021, it announced plans to spell nationalist via a SPAC merger astatine a worth of $2.3 billion, though that transaction ne'er took place.

The DOJ alleged that Aspiration booked and recognized gross from entities held by Sanberg, who made nan institution look arsenic if it had a dependable of watercourse of customers and gross that it didn’tt really have. The agency further alleged he defrauded investors by showing them a fabricated missive from Aspiration’s audit committee that said nan institution had $250 cardinal successful disposable rate and equivalents erstwhile it had little than $1 million. The DOJ alleged that Sanberg, on pinch a committee personnel who besides pleaded guilty, falsified financial records to get $145 cardinal successful loans.

When Ballmer shared his missive on X, asking nan judge to see nan harm done to him successful sentencing, he wrote, “I was duped and consciousness silly astir that. Everyone who believed successful Aspiration, including employees, customers and investors, was besides duped. Everyone is still tallying nan losses.”

The missive says that Ballmer invested a full of $60 cardinal successful nan company, and mislaid each of it. Ballmer was not only an investor, but had contracted pinch Aspiration to supply carbon-offsetting programs for nan Clippers and its stadium. Aspiration besides became a awesome Clippers sponsor.

The billionaire said successful nan missive that not only did he suffer that money, his estimation was negatively affected. He utilized nan missive to contradict nan reporting of a multi-part bid from famed sports podcast Pablo Torre Finds Out that delved into nan narration betwixt nan Clippers and Aspiration. The podcast made allegations that Aspiration helped sidestep nan net headdress for a prima Clippers player. Ballmer’s lawyers called those allegations “misapprehension aliases intentional disregard of nan facts,” successful nan letter.

Ballmer’s missive besides said that arsenic a consequence of nan relation pinch this company, nan podcast and different nationalist attraction of it, he’s been named successful lawsuits. Meanwhile, nan NBA said successful its ain missive regarding Sanberg’s sentencing, that it’s investigating nan net headdress allegations and Sanberg has been providing evidence, ESPN reported.

While nan hoops world is embroiled successful each of these downstream developments, nan connection founders tin return from it is clear: if 1 fabricates financial documents to raise capital, nan result will very apt beryllium prison.

The Ballmer Group did not respond to our petition for comment.