Beyond that , Jobs was an interesting fictitious character . He was a college dropout who won the National Medal of Technology , who had a reputation as a hard someone and a demanding knob , and who slam contender ' products and ran a cultish marketing show for his own .
One New York Times columnist had an interesting sociological account for why we ’ve always taken a personal interest in Jobs [ source : Carr ] . job knew us so well — from our early want for personal computer to the way our finger’s breadth like to dial Sung dynasty on our iPods — that we require to experience him back .
Jobs kept details about his life private , and his troupe protect his privacy , which lure us even more . Our captivation fed a rumor pulverisation that often suffer material wrong . Here are five popular myth that wall Jobs .
5: The Apple Corporation Paid Jobs Only $1 for Running the Company
From 1997 until he step down as chief operating officer of Apple in 2011 , Jobs made a annual remuneration of only $ 1 [ origin : Rogers ] . In fact , during several of those years , Jobs ' entire compensation was $ 1 . As one quick - witted CNET reader point out in response to Ina Fried ’s clause , " Apple Again bear Jobs $ 1 Salary , " his earnings could n’t buy him a Song dynasty plus tax on iTunes [ source : fry ] . So right now , you ’re wondering , " So why ’s this on the myth leaning ? " Well , it ’s only part of the history .
or else of gamey salaries , Apple choose to pay executives in carrying into action awards and slow - vesting stock . This policy encourage executives to stay long - term . Other companies have like practice . John Mackey , the CEO of Whole Foods Market and Eric Schmidt , now former CEO of Google , both made foundation salaries of $ 1 in 2008 [ sources : NYT : Mackey , NYT : Schmidt ] . Obviously , Jobs made a lot more than $ 1 each yr . For selling a record identification number of computers in 2000 , Apple thanked Jobs with an $ 88 million private super C [ germ : Fisher , Elkind ] . As of April 2011 , he owned more than 5.6 million parcel of Apple stock [ reference : Reuters ] . By Forbes ’s 2010 list , Jobs was the 136st richest somebody in the world , worth $ 5.5 billion [ source : Forbes ] .
4: Jobs' Car Displayed a Barcode Instead of Plates for the Sake of Safety and Privacy
A blogger once published a exposure of Jobs ' silver Mercedes in the Apple parking heap . The car had no rear license home plate , and there was a barcode dagger inside the frame [ source : iphone savior ] . One possibility was that police could scan Jobs ' car as he sped by . We do n’t call back so . The barcode is a serial number on all Mercedes like Jobs ' . But where were Jobs ' permission plates ? According to Fortune magazine , he left the plates off to avert parking ticket [ source : Schlender ] . Jobs reportedly break in other auto - related regulation , too . Do a Google search on Steve Jobs and disabled infinite and you ’ll find a innkeeper of article that mention the tech guru ’s parking indiscretion ; at Apple , he was know to park his car in a invalid quad near the building ’s entrance [ sources : Elkind , Kahney ] .
Regarding the miss plates , Jobs once said that it was a sort of game to him [ sources : ElkindandSchlender ] . With whom — police ? mass who would like to follow his car ? License - plate stealer ? multitude who ’d care the space he just direct ? Who won ?
3: Jobs Wore the Same Outfit Every Day - A Black Mock Turtleneck and Jeans
Adrian Monk was a television receiver detective whose obsessional - compulsive disorder carry over to his choice of clothes [ source : NBC ] . For him , it was always brownish over plaid . But that was the work of his costume designers . The very real Steve Jobs , who we ’re pretty certain was n’t following a scripted closet , almost always wore a black mock turtleneck and jeans — at least in populace , and at least since 1992 [ source : Potts ] .
Why ? Jobs never said . Like everyone else , we can speculate . The turnout looked well-off . We all loosen our ties and pry off our dog when we want to do our best work . Or Jobs may have done it to save clip , since he was undoubtedly busy .
Although he wore the outfit while at NeXT Computer , Jobs could ’ve made it his uniform for Apple [ generator : Potts ] . It made Jobs and his products soft to key out . Jeffery O’Brien , a former senior editor in chief at Wired magazine , suggested that the simple , square outfit could send the message that Jobs practice his creativity elsewhere [ source : Jackson ] . Or Jobs , like his product , may merely have favour a simple interface .
In the category of " har , har , har , " come one reader ’s response to Steven Heller ’s fictional " Fashion iCon " article . Daniel Kostka propose that Jobs ' polo-neck was wire for cyberspace access , as part a new line of iNecks [ source : Heller / Kostka ] . In a yin - yang kind of possibility , one satirist suggested the getup countered our " wretchedness " in choose among the yard of songs on our iPods [ author : Shine ] . Perhaps the turtleneck reflected task ' mental attitude toward button : First , he remove them from his shirt , and then his companionship do out with the iPod and iPhone .
But the fact is , Jobs did n’t wear the kit inflexibly . He changed when it was appropriate . He have on a causa to the 2001 MacWorld Expo in Tokyo and break tuxedo to the Academy Awards [ reservoir : Jackson ] . He occasionally bust a white T - shirt and black vest to exercise , and it ’s rumored that he own a white turtleneck [ sources : Jackson , Dukcevich ] .
2: Steve Jobs Swore to Never Return to Japan
It ’s a great narration : In 2010 , Steve Jobs vacationed in Kyoto , Japan . At the ending of his trip , he headed to the drome to hop-skip on his individual jet and return home . But while go through airport surety , aerodrome personnel office informed him that he would n’t be tolerate on his own airplane . Why would they say this ? Because Steve Jobs had purchased some ninja throwing genius while on holiday and he had them on his person ( any ego - respecting ninja would do the same ) .
The story continues . Steve Jobs , incensed that the airport security squad would n’t let him bring his souvenirs aboard his own secret airplane , declared that he will never visit Japan again . The story has all the hallmark of a great myth . You have the iconoclastic CEO — who already coif like a effortless Friday ninja — used to getting his own way . You have security staff office following the letter of the alphabet of the law in their procedure . You have the infamous Jobs temper appeal . Sadly , the story appear to be mistaken .
An Apple functionary contact John Paczkowski of All Things D to clear up the issue . harmonise to the representative , Jobs did natter Japan but that ’s where the similarity between the story told above and realness part ways . The congressman said that Jobs enjoyed his visit and that he had hoped to give to Japan shortly [ reservoir : Paczkowski ] . There ’s no word if the functionary then disappear in a puff of bullet .
1: Steve Jobs Bullied Employees for no Reason
The mythologic version of Steve Jobs takes many forms . There ’s the brashhackerwho impishly used engineering science to make long length telephone telephone call for liberal . There ’s the master salesman with the reality distortion field who could convince you to invent reasons you needed a new product . And then there ’s the taskmaster — the unyielding gaffer , driven and remorseless to competitors and employee likewise .
The truth is more complex . Steve Jobs was a perfectionist and could focus on the diminished detail . To an applied scientist , the detail might seem insignificant . But to Jobs , if that detail did n’t meet his approval it was a showstopper . He was n’t shy about expressing his opinion and could even end a project meeting early if something struck him as being wrong .
Jobs would heap kudos on employee who got results . But the same employee who might be applauded one 24-hour interval could get chew out the next mean solar day . Apple employee who worked with Jobs have said that they did some of their dependable work for him but that the experience was grueling [ source : Deutschman ] .
job could be harsh . Sometimes , he used an aggressive glide path to quiz employees . Those who could fight down their work or point of panorama he would hear to . Those who could n’t , he would dismiss — sometimes literally . He may even have used sharp unfavorable judgment to boost employees to do work heavily , knowing that he was feast on their own insecurity . It got resultant role but it believably was n’t the most pleasant work environment .
Jobs ' approach might go against every manual of arms on leadership that ’s in print but in the end Apple grow some of the most successful electronics for the consumer marketplace ever to hit computer storage shelves . And despite his reputation for being harsh and demanding , Jobs earned the devotedness and admiration of many of his employee . Like other seer before him , the reality of Steve Jobs might just be larger than the myth .
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