Steve Jobs' Lesser-Known Controversial Facts | Generated by AI
Question: What are some unpopular or lesser-known facts about Steve Jobs?
Answer:
Here are several well-documented but often downplayed or unpopular facts about Steve Jobs that contrast with his widely celebrated public image:
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He denied paternity of his daughter Lisa for years
Jobs had a daughter, Lisa Brennan-Jobs, with his high-school girlfriend Chrisann Brennan in 1978. He publicly denied being the father (despite a positive paternity test showing 94.41% probability), refused child support, and claimed to be sterile. He only acknowledged her years later and named the Apple Lisa computer after her (though he long denied that connection too). -
He parked in handicapped spaces regularly
Jobs famously drove a silver Mercedes SL 55 AMG without license plates (to avoid tracking) and routinely parked in handicapped spots at Apple headquarters. Employees and biographer Walter Isaacson confirmed this habit persisted for years. -
He was extremely harsh and abusive to employees
Known for brutal public humiliations, screaming, and crying in meetings. He once told an employee their work was “shit” in front of the entire team, fired people on the spot without warning, and reportedly said of one MobileMe team member: “You should hate each other for having let each other down.” -
He took credit for others’ work
Jobs often presented ideas as his own that originated from employees or partners. Most famously, he denied Wozniak’s contributions to the Apple II in interviews, and took full credit for the Macintosh GUI (originally developed at Xerox PARC), and even tried to remove Jony Ive’s name from product patents late in his life. -
He refused conventional cancer treatment for 9 months
After being diagnosed with a treatable form of pancreatic cancer (neuroendocrine tumor) in 2003, Jobs rejected surgery and pursued fruit diets, acupuncture, hydrotherapy, and other alternative treatments. Doctors and biographers (including Isaacson) believe this delay likely allowed the cancer to metastasize and become fatal. -
He ran a sweatshop-like environment in the early days
In the Atari era, Jobs took a $5,000 bonus from Steve Wozniak for optimizing the Breakout game but told Woz it was only $700, pocketing the difference. At Apple, he paid early employees very little while taking massive equity for himself. -
He was obsessed with extreme diets and hygiene denial
During his “fruitarian” phases, he believed eating only carrots or apples meant he didn’t produce body odor and refused to shower or use deodorant—employees complained he smelled terrible. He also frequently soaked his bare feet in toilets at the office. -
He cheated his NeXT co-founders
When raising money for NeXT, Jobs convinced the five co-founders to invest their own money, then diluted their shares dramatically when Ross Perot invested, leaving them with tiny fractions while keeping majority control.
These facts come primarily from Walter Isaacson’s authorized biography (based on 40+ interviews with Jobs himself), accounts by early Apple employees (e.g., Andy Hertzfeld, Daniel Kottke), and Lisa Brennan-Jobs’ memoir Small Fry.
References:
- Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs (2011) – https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Steve-Jobs/Walter-Isaacson/9781451648539
- Lisa Brennan-Jobs, Small Fry (2018) – https://www.groveatlantic.com/title/small-fry/
- Andy Hertzfeld, Revolution in the Valley (2004) – https://www.folklore.org
- Jony Fadell, Build (2022) – multiple accounts of workplace behavior
- Various interviews with former employees (e.g., Wired, Bloomberg, NYT archives)