Steve Jobs was an ambitious visionary and his influence shaped the entire IT industry. Despite his great fame, there are still many things that one does not know about him.
The success story of Apple is almost unique in the world. Since its founding in 1976, the company has been on a steady course of success with just a few short exceptions.
Without Steve Jobs, this would not have been possible. His decisions made Apple great. Jobs knew how to inspire people for the Apple lifestyle. His legacy still influences today’s products.
The interest in him remains unbroken even after his death in 2011. Over the years, many pieces of information about his professional life and his personality have become known. And yet, there are always new interesting facts that reveal new details about Steve Jobs.
1. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak met as teenagers
Many people know that Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak co-founded Apple. There was even a 3rd founding member, but he left Apple quickly.
The two met in high school. Steve Jobs was only 13 years old at the time, while Wozniak was already 18.
2. Steve Jobs did not have a higher school diploma
After high school, Steve Jobs went to college. But after just one semester, he dropped out and only attended individual courses.
Some time later, he was hired by Atari, where he and Wozniak worked together until the founding of Apple.
3. Steve Jobs chose the name Apple so that his company would be listed before Atari in the phone book
When asked about the founding name, Jobs is said to have mentioned that he wanted it to appear before his previous employer in the phone book.
He also stated that he liked apples. At the same time, he had very little time to choose the name on the day of the company’s founding. Documents from this historic time are now traded for a lot of money.
4. Steve Jobs could not program
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak later recounted that his friend Steve Jobs never learned how to program. This task always rested with Wozniak since the early years of Apple.
Because Jobs did not have the same technical knowledge, he honed his communication skills and developed into Apple’s marketing talent. He later used these skills to make major announcements on stage.
5. Steve Jobs became a billionaire through Pixar
After Jobs left Apple in 1985, he invested in the animation studio Pixar. At that time, the studio was still a division within Lucasfilm, the company of George Lucas.
Thanks to the great box office success of Toy Story and a subsequent IPO, Steve Jobs became very wealthy. When Disney acquired the animation studio, Jobs was the largest individual shareholder.
6. Steve Jobs earned only $1 salary when he returned to Apple
When Steve Jobs returned as CEO to Apple in 1997, he insisted on a salary of only $1 per year. Apple was financially troubled and was operating at a loss.
With this drastic pay cut and another brilliant idea, he helped Apple get back on its feet.
7. Steve Jobs did not have license plates on his car
Steve Jobs’ Mercedes was quickly identifiable to Apple employees on the company premises. It was the only car without attached license plates. Jobs feared that fans might steal the license plates as souvenirs.
A loophole in California law allowed him to drive a car without license plates. Registered vehicles in that state were required to display license plates no later than six months after registration. So, Jobs changed his leased car every 6 months.
8. The life of Steve Jobs has been filmed several times
After his death in 2011, two biographical films about the former Apple CEO were made. The first film “Jobs” was released in 2013. Ashton Kutcher played the role of Steve Jobs in this film.
A second film titled “Steve Jobs” followed shortly after in 2015. This time the actor Michael Fassbender portrayed the role of the tech visionary on the big screen.
There is also a TV film from 1999 called “The Silicon Valley Story”. In it, Steve Jobs was played by Noah Wyle. However, the film is narrated from the perspective of Steve Wozniak and Steve Ballmer, who was working at Microsoft at the time.
These were our 8 facts about Steve Jobs. Did you already know all these things or were there new insights for you as well?
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