Published on LoanPride

In the age of technology, the programmers, the designers, the innovators and the inventors are the new rock stars and their names are known by all and so was the case of Steve Jobs who is considered by many as the Leonardo da Vinci of our time. A man of vision, spirit and talent who remains immortal in his products long after his untimely passing.

To commemorate his incredible life, we have collected a few surprising and maybe unknown by many details about the life of the man who changed it all.

He Was Given To Adoption By His Syrian-American Parents

Steve was given to adoption as a baby, after his biological parents, Syrian immigrant – Abdul Fattah Jandali and then-girlfriend – Joanne Schieble, felt they were too young to raise a child out of wedlock. The couple was 23 years old and students at the University of Wisconsin. Steve was adopted by Paul and Clara Jobs.

Becoming Zen Buddhist & Pescatarian

In 1974 Jobs traveled to India for 7 months in search of spiritual enlightenment. He came back from his journey as a Zen Buddhist, which translated to daily meditations, often walking barefoot and becoming a Pescatarian (eating fish but not meat).

His Relationship With Google

Being known for his attention to details, Jobs allowed himself to call the former VP of Google, Vic Gundotra and convinced him to change the shade of yellow in the second “O” in Google’s famous logo. He also served as a mentor for Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page and was furious when Google created their Android devices as competitors to Apple in the phone market.

He Ripped-Off His Partner On Their First Project Together

Jobs and his Apple partner Wozniak worked on a circuit board for Atari’s video game “Breakout”. The company paid Jobs $5000 for the project but he told Wozniak that the payout was only $700 giving him $350, while he pocketed the other $4,650.

Working Nights In Atari

While working at “Atari”, Jobs switched to night shifts so he could work alone. He claimed he preferred the quiet but his former co-workers complained about his lack of personal hygiene. He rarely showered or shaved and walk around barefoot in the offices.

His College Education Didn't Go As Planned

His biological parents requested in his adoption file that their son will attend college and so he had, at least for a while, studying in Reed College in Oregon. His favorite class was Calligraphy which later influenced the multiple typefaces and proportionally spaced fonts embedded into his Mac computer. Jobs dropped out of college not wanting to spend his parents’ money.

His LSD Experiments

Like many others in his generation, Jobs also had some experiments with psychedelic drugs. He admitted to experimenting with LSD and claiming to have gone through profound experiences that helped him think differently. Jobs was quoted saying that his experience with the drug was "one of the two or three most important things I have done in my life."

He Is One Of The Founders Of Pixar

In 1986 Jobs funded “The Graphics Group” exit from under Lucasfilm, buying out their technology rights and founding what we now known as “Pixar”. Jobs was credited as executive producer on Pixar’s first film collaboration with Disney “Toy Story” in 1995.

He Denied Paternity With His First Child

For unknown reasons, Jobs believed he was sterile and denied the results of a DNA paternity test confirming that he had indeed had a daughter, Lisa, with his high school girlfriend, Chrisann Brennan. At that time, the results of the test were only 82% accurate and Jobs claimed it is not sufficient proof, yet, he secretly named his latest computer Apple Lisa.

He Reconnected With His Daughter

After Jobs was forced out from Apple, he reached out to Chrisann Brennan and reconnected with his daughter. By the time Lisa was 9 years old they had legally changed her name on the birth certificate to "Lisa Brennan-Jobs and arranged a co-parenting solution.

America's Toughest Boss

Jobs was considered “a mad genius”, he was infamous for being difficult and demanding at work and received the notorious title of one of America's Toughest Bosses by Fortune in 1993. He also had Apple sue teenage blogger Nicholas Ciarelli for his ‘Think Secret” blog, where he posted rumors about upcoming Apple products.

Almost An Astronaut

Shortly after his departure from Apple, Jobs applied to become a civilian astronaut and fly on the Space Shuttle, unfortunately, he was rejected, which made him consider starting a computer company in the Soviet Union. Luckily, that plan fell through as well.

His $1 A Year Salary

While working in Apple, Jobs annual salary was $1, however, since he had 5.5 million shares of Apple stock and the majority share of Disney stock (from selling Pixar), he had more than enough cash in his bank account.

Summer Job: The Mad Hatter

In the summer before his departure to Reed college, Jobs and his former high school friend, Apple co-founder, Steve Wozniak, along with Chrisann Brennan (his high school sweetheart) all worked as a dress-up characters from “Alice in Wonderland”, Brennan was Alice while Wozniak was the White Rabbit and Jobs was the Mad Hatter.

Anywhere But Here

The movie “Anywhere But Here” starring Natalie Portman and Susan Sarandon was based on a book written by Job’s biological sister, Mona Simpson, with whom Jobs connected later in life and became very close to. The film was dedicated to Jobs.

Record-Breaking Patents

Jobs is listed as primary inventor or co-inventor of almost 450 patents in the United States, some listed even after his death. All patents are related to a range of technologies and designs.

Struggling As A Student

Steve Jobs was diagnosed with dyslexia, had test-related anxiety and had a GPA of 2.65. He didn’t believe in the traditional way of studying and always tried to find new ways to acquire knowledge.

No Off Switch

Jobs was known for his fear of death, so much so, that Apple products don’t have a direct “Off” button. He was quoted saying “Once something is “off” you are gone”.

Driving Without A License Plate & Handicapped Parking

Steve Jobs was not the most law-abiding citizen when it came to driving, he often parked in handicapped spots and drove without a license plate on his Mercedes. He found a loophole that allowed him to do so by changing cars, to the same identical model (but new) every six months, thus tricking the law that required a license plate on every car after that said time period.

Refusing Cancer Treatments

Jobs was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer in 2003 but refused traditional modern medicine and instead took on a vegan diet, acupuncture, herbal remedies and even consulted with healers from around the world. When the alternative methods failed he finally agreed to an operation and underwent surgery, however, the delay in his treatment is considered the major reason for the decline in his condition.

The Man He Hired Who Got Him Fired

In 1983, Jobs recruited Pepsi executive John Sculley with the legendary pitch: "Do you want to sell sugared water for the rest of your life? Or do you want to come with me and change the world?" shortly after, Jobs was “fired” from Apple because Sculley convinced the board of directors that he was too young and inexperienced to run the company.

NeXT & Returning To Apple

After his painful departure from Apple in 1985, Jobs started his next project, a start-up company, creating the NeXT computer. The product itself was innovative but also expensive and the sales were low. Ironically, Apple decided to acquire NeXT for $429 million in 1997 resulting in Steve returning to Apple. The combination of NeXT hardware with Apple resulted in the development of operating systems like iOS used in the iPhone.

iCEO

In 2000, Steve Jobs became the permanent CEO of Apple and remained in that position until his final resignation act on August 2011. In 2009 Tim Cook, became acting CEO of Apple due to Jobs medical condition but officially worked with him on and off, despite his illness until 2011.

Working A Summer Job At HP When He Was 12

When he was 12 years old, he was building a frequency counter but he didn’t have all the parts he needed so he decided to call the CEO of HP (at the time), Bill Hewlett, and asked him for extra parts. After speaking for 20 minutes, Hewlett offered Steve a summer job at HP—an offer he gladly accepted. When he was asked how he got the job he said “Most people don’t get those experiences because they never ask.”

Why Apple?

Jobs was a very competitive person and when he had to decide how to name his company he chose "Apple" for the simple reason that it came before "Atari" in the phone book. As we learned earlier, Jobs worked for Atari for a period of time and felt that the next logical step in his career is to surpass his former employers.

Frenemies: Steve Jobs & Bill Gates

Steve Jobs and Bill Gates had a known rivalry, as the heads of two giant tech companies but their rivalry was mostly exaggerated by the media as Gates invested $150 million into Apple in the 90s when the company was in trouble. They even had a few limited public appearances together in Digital conferences. After Jobs passing Gates was quoted saying “When he was sick I got to go down and spend time with him. We talked about what we’d learned, about families, everything.”

His Love For Music

The invention of the iPod following by the iTunes was one of his proudest achievements as he loved music and wanted to find an easier way to experience music than carrying around a heavy walkman or discman. His favorite musical artists were Bob Dylan and The Beatles.