When it comes to the life of Steve Jobs there’s certainly more than enough to base a movie on. The man was simply remarkable and possibly one of the most innovative thinkers of his time. His relentless management approach became legendary from the start as he helped Apple blossom from a garage startup company to a household name. In this post we will attempt to debate some of the more engaging things you might not know about the legendary man behind Apple.
One interesting fact that many might not know is that Mr. Jobs was a university dropout. He quickly saw the coarse of the coming future of personal computers and dropped everything to pursue it. Launching Apple in his garage with Steve Wozniak, Jobs became obsessed with perfection from the beginning. Worker stories surfaced from early on regarding Steve’s difficult style of management and past history of rejecting anything that was not flawless.
Another interesting aspect of the man behind Apple is that he didn’t make most of his wealth from Apple computers. After being ousted from Apple in 1984 he hatched a company called Pixar which was targeted around the sphere of cartoon animation. Years afterward he was in a position to sell off Pixar to Disney for a mindboggling amount. When Apple ended up in some difficulty several years later Jobs was recruited to help steer Apple back on course. With Apple virtually in bankruptcy Jobs was credited with executing the vital calls to save the failing brand from demise.
A barely discussed important point is that when Steve returned to Apple as CEO he took a salary of one dollar a year. While definitely he could have named his price many are impressed to hear that he essentially elected to take no salary to get Apple back on course. Naturally he did hold 5 million Apple shares as well as 138 million shares in Disney which did help keep him stable. Forbes lately listed his net wealth to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 7 billion dollars making him one of the richest individuals in the world.
When Steve was asked about his model for business success he often compared things to the Beatles. The main point he mentioned sometimes was that the Beatles were a good example of four guys that managed to keep each other’s negative inclinations under control. What he also often pointed out is that amazing things are accomplished in business with a cohesive group and that Apple was a great example of such. Regardless if you’re a lover of the fantastic quality of top of the line Apple systems or you own a cheap desktop computer, it’s important to recognize the contributions that Jobs made not only to Mac but to electronics today. Without Jobs foresight, drive and quest for perfection the world would clearly not be where it is today.
John has been a fan of high end Apple Systems for years having been an Apple specialist for over two decades. These days he enjoys sharing interesting info on a myriad of topics from the cheapest gaming desktops to refurbished netbooks.