Ballmer Peak

Coined by American cartoonist, author and engineer Randall Munroe in 2007 in his webcomic xkcd, after Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft from 2000–2014.^[1][2]

Ballmer Peak

1. (Internet slang, humorous) A fictional level of drunkenness (originally stated to correspond with a BAC of 0.129–0.138%) said to confer one with superhuman programming ability.
   • 2008 November 13, Domo, “Scoreboard Request for A10 bonus”, in uw.cs.cs241‎^[2] (Usenet):

     I think he's researching drug use and its relation with Ballmer's Peak.

   • 2016 June 1, krw, “Reflow soldering for dummies”, in sci.electronics.design‎^[3] (Usenet):

     If the programmers writing autonomous vehicle software are in the Ballmer peak, will they get charged with DWI?

   • 2021 June 1, Kate Julian, “America Has a Drinking Problem”, in The Atlantic‎^[4], Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 8 November 2021:

     At a talk he later gave on wu-wei at Google, Slingerland made much the same point about intoxication. During the Q&A, someone in the audience told him about the Ballmer Peak—the notion, named after the former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, that alcohol can affect programming ability. Drink a certain amount, and it gets better. Drink too much, and it goes to hell. Some programmers have been rumored to hook themselves up to alcohol-filled IV drips in hopes of hovering at the curve's apex for an extended time.