Here is the honest answer: as of May 2026, there is no publicly documented individual named Charles Simmons with a confirmed, senior Microsoft role that would generate a meaningful net worth estimate tied to the company. The research trail for 'Charles Simmons Microsoft' leads to a legal case involving a Marnie L. Simmons (not Charles), a Forbes-listed financial advisor named Charles Simmons who works in Louisiana with Ameriprise Financial, and a few unrelated people who share the name. If you landed here expecting a billionaire or even a mid-level executive profile, the reality is that no verified 'Charles Simmons' appears in Microsoft's public executive records, SEC filings, or insider trading disclosures. That matters, because it changes how we approach the net worth question entirely.
Charles Simmons Microsoft Net Worth: How to Verify the Estimate
Which Charles Simmons Has a Microsoft Connection?
Disambiguating 'Charles Simmons' at Microsoft requires checking several layers: public executive profiles, SEC insider filings, LinkedIn, court records, and Microsoft's own published speaker and research pages. After going through all of those, here is what the record actually shows.
The most prominent Microsoft-linked 'Simmons' in legal and public records is Marnie L. Simmons, a Business Administrative Assistant hired by Microsoft on June 3, 2006, who later served as Executive Business Administrator to Corporate Vice President Rosanna Ho. She worked there for seven years before her termination in February 2013, and her case went to the Washington Court of Appeals (No. 73849-6-1, filed July 5, 2016). This is not Charles Simmons.
Microsoft's own published pages include a 'Danny Simmons' listed as a Principal Software Engineer, which confirms that the surname Simmons appears in Microsoft contexts but requires specific first-name matching. No 'Charles Simmons' appears in Microsoft Research speaker pages, executive leadership lists, or any SEC EDGAR insider-ownership filing tied to Microsoft as of the date of this writing.
Meanwhile, a well-documented Charles Simmons does exist in financial services: Forbes named a Charles Simmons of Ameriprise Financial Services in Metairie, Louisiana, as a Best-In-State Wealth Advisor in 2020. That recognition is specific to financial advisory work and has no connection to Microsoft employment or equity. There is also a Charles L. Simmons based in Austin, Texas, with a LinkedIn profile showing CVS Pharmacy experience, again unrelated to Microsoft.
The conclusion from this disambiguation: if a 'Charles Simmons' with a genuine Microsoft connection exists, he does not appear in any accessible public record (executive bios, SEC filings, press releases, or court documents) that would allow a credible net worth estimate to be built. The most likely explanation is either a confusion with another name (Marnie Simmons, Danny Simmons, or another variant), a mid-level or non-executive role with limited public financial disclosure, or a mix-up with a similarly named figure in another industry.
What 'Net Worth' Actually Means and How These Estimates Get Built
Net worth is straightforward in principle: total assets minus total liabilities. Cash, real estate, investment accounts, stock holdings, business equity, vehicles, and other property go on the asset side. Mortgages, loans, and other debts go on the liability side. What is left is the net figure. For public company executives like senior Microsoft leaders, much of that picture can actually be reconstructed from public filings. For everyone else, it is largely estimation.
For someone at a publicly traded company like Microsoft, the most reliable data points are SEC Form 4 filings (which report insider trades in real time), proxy statements (DEF 14A filings, which disclose executive compensation including salary, bonus, and stock awards), and any Form 13 filings if the person holds significant share blocks. These are the gold-standard inputs. The problem is that they only cover named executive officers and directors. A VP, director, or manager below the named-executive threshold has no required SEC disclosure, so their equity holdings and compensation are invisible to the public.
When public filings are not available, net worth sites (including this one) use a combination of known salary ranges for similar roles, published RSU and stock option grant structures at comparable Microsoft levels, estimates of tenure-based vesting, and assumptions about savings and investment rates. Each of those inputs carries uncertainty, which is why responsible estimates always come with a range rather than a single figure.
Why Different Sources Give Different Numbers
Net worth estimates diverge across outlets for predictable reasons. Some sites use outdated salary benchmarks. Others ignore liabilities entirely, inflating the figure. Stock-based compensation is particularly tricky: the value of unvested RSUs fluctuates with the share price daily, and options are worth nothing until exercised. Microsoft's stock (MSFT) has had enormous price swings over the past decade, which means an equity-heavy estimate from 2020 looks very different by 2026. Sites that do not update their figures regularly will be significantly off. This site flags those discrepancies explicitly rather than picking a comfortable round number.
Microsoft-Linked Earnings: What the Record Supports
Because no publicly documented 'Charles Simmons' has been confirmed as a named executive at Microsoft, we cannot pull verified compensation data for this specific individual. What we can do is describe the compensation structures that would apply at various Microsoft levels, so you can calibrate any figure you may have encountered elsewhere.
| Microsoft Role Level | Typical Base Salary Range (2025-2026 est.) | Annual RSU Grant Range | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business Administrator / Admin Assistant | $60,000 - $90,000 | Minimal or none | Matches Marnie Simmons-type role; limited equity |
| Senior Individual Contributor (IC5-IC6) | $180,000 - $250,000 | $80,000 - $200,000 / yr | Common for senior engineers or PMs |
| Principal / Partner (IC7+) | $250,000 - $350,000+ | $200,000 - $500,000+ / yr | Requires public filing only if named executive |
| Corporate Vice President or above | $350,000 - $600,000+ | $1M+ / yr (often more) | Typically appears in proxy filings |
The business administrator role identified in the Washington Court of Appeals case (the Marnie Simmons level) sits at the lower end of that table, with minimal equity participation and no SEC disclosure requirement. Seven years of employment at that level, with a salary in the $60,000 to $90,000 range and standard Microsoft benefits (including the employee stock purchase plan at a 10% discount), would accumulate a modest amount of Microsoft stock but nothing close to a multi-million-dollar executive wealth profile.
Equity, Stock Holdings, and Other Asset Categories
Microsoft compensates named executives and senior leaders heavily in equity: restricted stock units (RSUs) that vest over four years, and historically stock options before the company shifted primarily to RSUs. Under SEC rules, 'beneficial ownership' for proxy table purposes includes shares underlying fully vested RSUs and vested options, but does not count unvested grants. That means even the public filing understates the true economic interest of an executive who holds a large unvested RSU tranche.
For a mid-level or administrative Microsoft employee over seven years, equity would typically come through the Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) rather than large RSU grants. ESPP allows employees to buy Microsoft stock at a 15% discount (Microsoft's plan has historically offered a 10% discount) on the lower of the price at the start or end of the purchase period. Over seven years of contributions, that could accumulate a meaningful but not dramatic stock position, depending on contribution rates and whether shares were held or sold.
Other asset categories that would round out any Microsoft employee's net worth include: retirement savings (401k with Microsoft matching contributions), real estate in the Seattle or greater Puget Sound area (where Microsoft is headquartered and property values have risen substantially since 2006), and general taxable investment accounts. None of these are publicly disclosed for non-executive employees.
Net Worth Range: What a Credible Estimate Actually Looks Like
Given the absence of a verified, senior 'Charles Simmons' in Microsoft's public record, any specific dollar figure circulating online for 'Charles Simmons Microsoft net worth' should be treated with serious skepticism. There is no SEC filing, no proxy statement, and no confirmed executive biography to anchor such a number.
If the Charles Simmons you are researching held a role similar to the business administrator level documented in the Washington court case, a reasonable back-of-envelope estimate for net worth accumulated over a seven-year Microsoft tenure (2006 to 2013) would sit in the range of $200,000 to $600,000, accounting for salary savings, ESPP stock accumulation, 401k growth, and modest real estate equity. That is not a high-profile wealth figure, and it explains why no major financial outlet has published a profile.
If there is a different Charles Simmons at Microsoft in a senior engineering, product, or executive capacity that has not surfaced in public records, the range would shift dramatically upward. A Corporate Vice President at Microsoft with 10 or more years of tenure and consistent RSU grants could accumulate $10 million to $50 million or more, depending on grant sizes, vesting, and MSFT share price appreciation over that period. But that profile requires actual documentation to support it, and none currently exists for a 'Charles Simmons' at Microsoft.
For comparison, other notable Charles figures in business and finance carry well-documented wealth profiles. Charles Simonyi, who worked at Microsoft as a senior executive before departing to found Intentional Software, has an extensively documented net worth built on Microsoft equity and subsequent ventures. That kind of profile has a clear paper trail. The 'Charles Simmons' Microsoft search does not produce an equivalent record.
How to Verify This Yourself Today
If you want to do your own due diligence rather than rely on any single source, here is the practical workflow. These are the same steps used when building any Microsoft-linked net worth profile on this site.
- Search SEC EDGAR (sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar) for 'Charles Simmons' as an insider or reporting person. Filter by company name 'Microsoft.' If no Form 4 or Schedule 13 results appear, this person is not a named insider at Microsoft.
- Pull Microsoft's most recent proxy statement (DEF 14A) from EDGAR. It lists named executive officers with full compensation tables. Check whether 'Charles Simmons' appears anywhere in that document.
- Search Google for 'Charles Simmons Microsoft' alongside terms like 'LinkedIn,' 'VP,' 'director,' or 'engineer' to see whether a specific role and biography surfaces. Cross-reference any result with Microsoft's official page or a verifiable news source.
- Check Microsoft's official newsroom (news.microsoft.com) and the Microsoft Research people directory for any published profile. If no official page exists, treat any claimed title with caution.
- For the Ameriprise-linked Charles Simmons (Louisiana), search FINRA BrokerCheck (brokercheck.finra.org) by name to verify his advisory credentials and firm history. This is a completely separate person from any Microsoft figure.
- If you have a specific court case or legal document mentioning 'Charles Simmons' and Microsoft, search the Washington Courts public docket (dockets.courts.wa.gov) or PACER (pacer.gov) for federal cases. Cross-check the full name, date, and case number.
- For current Microsoft MSFT stock valuation context, check the real-time share price on any major financial data site and use it to calculate what a given number of shares or RSU units would be worth today. MSFT's price as of early 2026 is the relevant input for any equity calculation.
The bottom line: if a specific 'Charles Simmons' has been referred to you as a Microsoft executive or high-net-worth individual connected to the company, ask for the specific role title, approximate tenure dates, and any press coverage or LinkedIn URL. If you want to verify claims behind a "Charles Cosby net worth" figure, use the same approach: confirm identity first, then check SEC filings, compensation disclosures, and reliable public records. Those identifiers will either surface a paper trail quickly or reveal that the name is being confused with someone else. Without that anchor, any net worth figure attached to 'Charles Simmons Microsoft' is not verifiable with current public information.
FAQ
How can I tell whether the Charles Simmons I found online is the same person connected to Microsoft?
Look for at least one “identity anchor” beyond the name, such as a middle initial, state of residence, specific job title, or an employer history entry that matches Microsoft’s organization (for example “Microsoft,” not just “tech”). If those identifiers do not line up across SEC records, court dockets, and professional bios, treat any net worth number as an identity error rather than an estimation problem.
Why do some Charles Simmons Microsoft net worth estimates look too high compared to what filings would suggest?
Net worth calculators often add unvested RSUs as if they are already owned. Under SEC-style disclosure logic, unvested RSUs are excluded from beneficial ownership tables because they are contingent. If a site claims “total shares” without distinguishing vested versus unvested and exercised options, its number is usually inflated.
What if Charles Simmons at Microsoft was not an SEC-disclosed executive, how can I still validate anything?
If the person was not a named executive officer or director, there may be no Form 4, proxy table entry, or meaningful SEC disclosure. In that scenario, your best verification is triangulation using employment verification (court records, credible bios, or company speaker pages) plus generic compensation bands and tenure-based equity assumptions, which will naturally produce a wide range.
Should I assume a non-executive Microsoft employee would have big RSU holdings in their net worth estimate?
For roles like business administrator or other non-executive positions, the largest public-company “equity” exposure usually comes from the employee stock purchase plan (ESPP) and possibly small RSU grants, not large RSU tranches. If an estimate assumes major executive grant sizes without documentation of seniority and grant history, it is likely misclassified.
How do I handle net worth numbers that don’t specify a date or stock price assumption?
If you are seeing a single dollar figure with no time context (for example “$X million” with no year), that is a red flag because MSFT equity value changes daily. Prefer estimates that state an “as of” date and describe the share price and vesting assumptions used.
Why do some net worth sites appear to ignore debt when estimating someone’s wealth?
Verify whether the estimate includes liabilities like mortgages, credit lines, taxes due, or personal loans. Many net worth articles and tools treat debts as zero, which can produce surprisingly large numbers even if assets are only modest. If the estimate does not discuss debt assumptions at all, expect upward bias.
What specific proof should I request if someone claims a verified Charles Simmons Microsoft net worth?
Ask for specific evidence such as an MSFT-equity grant disclosure, a court record showing Microsoft employment tied to the right individual, or a LinkedIn URL that clearly shows Microsoft tenure with dates. Without one of these, you cannot distinguish “estimation range” from “guessing,” especially when multiple people share the same name.
How should I treat Microsoft-related court records that involve a Simmons when the name is not Charles?
If the only Microsoft-related material is a lawsuit or legal docket that mentions a “Simmons,” you still need confirmation it is the same first name and the same employment timeline. Similar last names can appear in different capacities, and court documents may not list equity holdings, so they cannot directly support a high net worth figure.
What sanity checks can I do before believing a multi-million-dollar claim for “Charles Simmons Microsoft”?
A quick sanity check is to compare the claimed wealth level to likely compensation and equity magnitude for the stated role and tenure. For example, seven years at lower administrative levels would usually not justify multi-million executive-scale claims unless there is evidence of unusual additional equity, business ownership, or other large assets.
What is a practical workflow to build my own verification-based net worth range for a Microsoft employee when filings are missing?
If you believe you have the correct person, you can model “best-effort” verification by combining (1) the role and tenure, (2) likely compensation bands, (3) whether ESPP participation is plausible, and (4) whether any SEC-like disclosures exist. If none exist and no grant evidence is available, you should only treat the result as a broad range, not a precise net worth.