For someone of his stature, a legend in his field, Steve Jobs was amazingly private. Some of these facts might be familiar to you, but others will surely surprise you. He is one of those great minds who changed the world. Therefore, here are 16 things you maybe were not aware of when it comes to one of the greatest minds the world has ever seen.
16. Studied Calligraphy
One of these was the art of writing in fancy ways. This proved more than valuable in his future work, as he connected these skills to the creation of one of his greatest inventions. As he put it delicately, it helped make “the first computer with beautiful typography.”
15. Half-Syrian
AbdulfattahJandali, his biological father, owns a casino and restaurant in Reno, Nevada. It is said that they met only once, because of the next fact on our list.
14. He was adopted
His father did not want a marriage with his biological mother, Joanne Carol Schieble, an American woman. His adoptive parents were Paul and Clara Jobs.
13. Became a Buddhist
As you probably understood from the previous sentence, he was heavily influenced by this religion. After traveling through India, he even got his marriage officiated by a Buddhist monk, Kobun Chino.
12. Laurene Powell Jobs
We mentioned his marriage, so let us meet his wife. First, they got married in Yosemite National Park in California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains. Lauren was an MBA graduate of Stanford. President Barack Obama appointed her as a member of the White House for Community Solutions, because of her more than active involvement and dedication to non-profit communities. This is a strange case, and this next fact is the reason why.
11. He Took a $1 Salary
Since 1998, Steve Jobs received only a $1 every year from his company. For those of you, who thought he kept it all for himself because of the charity thing, guess again.
10. He was a Hippie
To some people, he looked like a lost hippie at times. This fact should not be that odd if we think about his sudden trip to India and a change to Buddhism. Anything is possible with one of the greatest visionaries the world has ever seen. Speaking of being a hippie…
9. He had a Fling with Joan Boaz
In his prime hippie years, he had a brief fling with the folk singer. However, Boaz left him for Bob Dylan, Steve’s favorite musician. That must have hurt, we imagine. Nevertheless, from what we learned here, he did have an awesome taste in music!
8. Loved the Beatles
For those young generations who did not experience it, it is hard to understand what Beatlemania was actually like. Think Bieber mania, multiplied five times. Yeah, that is big. To put his love of the famous band in perspective, he named his giant of a company after one of their record labels.
7. He used to be Homeless
Steve Jobs homeless? It sure sounds like a joke. Before he conquered the world, he had it rough after dropping out from college. Lucky for him, he had plenty of couches to crash on, because he had some great friends at the time.
6. Pescetarian
Steve did not like to eat meat. For him, fish was the only part of his diet that was of animal origin. Probably a flower child habit he did not want to break. This resulted in a clash with food companies like McDonald’s, most notably when he voted against happy meals advertising Pixar movies.
5. Jobs Saved Pixar
In dangerous and traitorous waters of Hollywood, animation had it rough until Steve Jobs came to help. From LucasFilm, he purchased The Graphics Group for $10 million. He turned it into the Pixar studious everyone knows and adores today. Without this move, we would not have been able to enjoy the classics this house produced over the years.
4. Lied to Steve Wozniak
After collaborating on the Atari video game called Breakout, the pair agreed to split their cut halfway. Although Apple gave Jobs $5,000 for his endeavor, he told Wozniak that he only got a sum of $700. When Wozniak found out about it, he said that he would have given Jobs the money if he simply asked him for it.
3. Found his sister at 30
Steve’s sister, a famous writer, is another well-known person from his family. However, their first meeting was in 1985, after which they became very close. Mona mentioned that they talked at least every two days.
2. He Denied Paternity on his First Child
Before he married Laurene, Steve already had a child. With Chris-Anne Brennan, he has a daughter, Lisa. This coincided with his company’s rise to power, so Steve denied paternity. He changed his mind and decided to make up for it later on when he paid Lisa’s Harvard tuition.
1. The company, which he started in his garage, is sued, on average, once a day
Two Steves, Jobs and Wozniak, started Apple in a garage after Wozniak invented his Apple 1 computer. Very humble beginnings of a tech giant. This year, Apple became the first company in history worth $1 trillion dollars. But even before this milestone, Apple’s lawyers were extremely busy defending the company from various litigations as many are constantly trying to get something out of them.