Chapter 30 Dude, you got rich!
In his life, Steve Jobs has been poor and rich, he has been a billionaire and he has also tasted bankruptcy, so his attitude towards wealth is very complicated.A hippie against materialism who turned an invention his friends were about to give away for free into a tool for profit; a Zen Buddhist fanatic who made a pilgrimage to India before deciding that entrepreneurship was his mission.Strangely, however, these traits do not contradict each other in him, but are perfectly intertwined.
(Home in Cupertino, 1982. Because he was too picky when choosing furniture. Most of the home is still empty.)
He has a strong penchant for physical objects, especially those that are elegantly designed and crafted, such as Porsches and Mercedes cars, Zwilling knives and Braun appliances, BMW motorcycles and the photography of Amel Adams works, Bosendorfer pianos and Bang&Olufsen sound equipment.But no matter how rich he was, the house Jobs lived in was always simple and low-key, with such simple furnishings that even a Shaker believer would feel ashamed of himself.He never travels with a huge entourage, has no personal assistant, or even employs bodyguards.He bought a limousine, but never drove it himself.When Markkula asked him to buy a Lear jet with him, he declined (though he later asked Apple to buy him a Gulfstream).Like his father, Jobs was steadfast in his bargains with suppliers, but he didn't allow the pursuit of profit to override his passion for building great products.
Thirty years after Apple went public, he reflects on what it was like to get rich overnight:
Jobs was not a particularly benevolent person.He started a foundation briefly, but found the guy he hired to run it annoying, always talking about new ways to do philanthropy and how to use donations.Jobs began to look down on those who talked about philanthropy or thought they could revolutionize philanthropy.Earlier, he had quietly sent a $5,000 check to help start Larry Brilliant's Seva Foundation, which is dedicated to helping the poor fight disease, and Jobs even agreed to join it. Board of Directors.But at a meeting, Jobs had a dispute with a well-known doctor on the board. Jobs believed that the foundation should hire Regis McKenna to help fundraising and public relations affairs, but the doctor raised objections.The controversy ended with Jobs weeping in the parking lot.Backstage at the Grateful Dead's benefit concert for the Seva Foundation the next night, Jobs and Brilliant reunited.After Apple's IPO, however, Brilliant brought several board members -- including Wavy Gravy and Jerry Garcia -- to Apple to raise money for charity When, Jobs did not satisfy them.Instead, he tried to convince them that an Apple II and the VisiCalc program he had previously donated would help the foundation streamline their planned survey of blindness in Nepal.
Jobs' largest personal gift was to his parents, Paul and Clara Jobs, who gave about $750,000 worth of stock.The old couple sold some of it to pay off the mortgage on their Los Altos house, and their son came home to celebrate. "It was the first time in their lives that they didn't have a loan," Jobs recalled. "They invited a few friends over and had a party at home, and it was a very cozy scene." son's house. "They're not interested in that," Jobs said. "They're happy with where they are." Their only luxury is an annual Princess cruise vacation.According to Jobs, the route through the Panama Canal was "my dad's favorite" because it reminded him of his time in the Coast Guard, when their ships sailed through the Panama Canal to be decommissioned in San Francisco.
Apple's success brought Jobs fame. In October 1981, "Enterprise" (Inc.) became the first magazine to put Jobs on the cover. "The man who changed the business world forever," proclaimed the magazine.The cover shows Jobs with a neatly trimmed beard, sleek long hair, jeans, a white shirt, and a suit that's a little too slick.Leaning against an Apple II, he looks directly into the camera with that charming gaze he learned from Robert Friedland.The magazine wrote; "Steve Jobs spoke with passion, saw the future, and was trying to create it."
Next came Time magazine, which ran a feature on young entrepreneurs in February 1982.On the cover was a portrait of Jobs, still with his charismatic eyes.According to the story, Jobs "virtually single-handedly started the personal computer industry." The profile, written by Michael Moritz, states: "Six years ago, the company was nestled in the bedroom and garage of Jobs' parents' home. , under his leadership, the company is expected to achieve $600 million in sales this year, and Jobs is only 26 years old...As a manager, Jobs was sometimes grumpy and harsh with his subordinates. By his own admission : 'I had to learn how to control my emotions.'”
Despite his fame and fortune, Jobs still considered himself a child of the counterculture.On one visit to a Stanford class, he took off his Wilkes Bashford suit and shoes, sat at a table, and meditated cross-legged.The students asked some difficult questions, such as when Apple's stock price would rise, and Jobs ignored them. Instead, he began to talk about his passion for future products, such as building a computer as small as a book one day.Gradually, no one asked business questions, and Jobs began to ask these well-dressed students. "How many of you are still virgins?" he asked.Someone below giggled uncomfortably. "How many of you have tried LSD?" The laughter grew louder, and only one or two raised their hands.Later, Jobs complained about the children of this generation. In his opinion, this group of children is more materialistic than his generation, and they are bent on pursuing fame and fortune. "When I was in school, the trend of thought in the 1960s had just passed, and the social ethos of pragmatism and purpose had not prevailed," he said. "Children nowadays are not willing to think in an idealistic way at all. Not even idealism. They certainly don’t let any of the philosophical issues of the day take up too much of their time, because they’re busy with their business majors.” He said his generation was different. "The idealism of the '60s still haunts us, and most of the people I know my age have it permanently stamped on their hearts."
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Notes:
(Home in Cupertino, 1982. Because he was too picky when choosing furniture. Most of the home is still empty.)
He has a strong penchant for physical objects, especially those that are elegantly designed and crafted, such as Porsches and Mercedes cars, Zwilling knives and Braun appliances, BMW motorcycles and the photography of Amel Adams works, Bosendorfer pianos and Bang&Olufsen sound equipment.But no matter how rich he was, the house Jobs lived in was always simple and low-key, with such simple furnishings that even a Shaker believer would feel ashamed of himself.He never travels with a huge entourage, has no personal assistant, or even employs bodyguards.He bought a limousine, but never drove it himself.When Markkula asked him to buy a Lear jet with him, he declined (though he later asked Apple to buy him a Gulfstream).Like his father, Jobs was steadfast in his bargains with suppliers, but he didn't allow the pursuit of profit to override his passion for building great products.
Thirty years after Apple went public, he reflects on what it was like to get rich overnight:
Jobs was not a particularly benevolent person.He started a foundation briefly, but found the guy he hired to run it annoying, always talking about new ways to do philanthropy and how to use donations.Jobs began to look down on those who talked about philanthropy or thought they could revolutionize philanthropy.Earlier, he had quietly sent a $5,000 check to help start Larry Brilliant's Seva Foundation, which is dedicated to helping the poor fight disease, and Jobs even agreed to join it. Board of Directors.But at a meeting, Jobs had a dispute with a well-known doctor on the board. Jobs believed that the foundation should hire Regis McKenna to help fundraising and public relations affairs, but the doctor raised objections.The controversy ended with Jobs weeping in the parking lot.Backstage at the Grateful Dead's benefit concert for the Seva Foundation the next night, Jobs and Brilliant reunited.After Apple's IPO, however, Brilliant brought several board members -- including Wavy Gravy and Jerry Garcia -- to Apple to raise money for charity When, Jobs did not satisfy them.Instead, he tried to convince them that an Apple II and the VisiCalc program he had previously donated would help the foundation streamline their planned survey of blindness in Nepal.
Jobs' largest personal gift was to his parents, Paul and Clara Jobs, who gave about $750,000 worth of stock.The old couple sold some of it to pay off the mortgage on their Los Altos house, and their son came home to celebrate. "It was the first time in their lives that they didn't have a loan," Jobs recalled. "They invited a few friends over and had a party at home, and it was a very cozy scene." son's house. "They're not interested in that," Jobs said. "They're happy with where they are." Their only luxury is an annual Princess cruise vacation.According to Jobs, the route through the Panama Canal was "my dad's favorite" because it reminded him of his time in the Coast Guard, when their ships sailed through the Panama Canal to be decommissioned in San Francisco.
Apple's success brought Jobs fame. In October 1981, "Enterprise" (Inc.) became the first magazine to put Jobs on the cover. "The man who changed the business world forever," proclaimed the magazine.The cover shows Jobs with a neatly trimmed beard, sleek long hair, jeans, a white shirt, and a suit that's a little too slick.Leaning against an Apple II, he looks directly into the camera with that charming gaze he learned from Robert Friedland.The magazine wrote; "Steve Jobs spoke with passion, saw the future, and was trying to create it."
Next came Time magazine, which ran a feature on young entrepreneurs in February 1982.On the cover was a portrait of Jobs, still with his charismatic eyes.According to the story, Jobs "virtually single-handedly started the personal computer industry." The profile, written by Michael Moritz, states: "Six years ago, the company was nestled in the bedroom and garage of Jobs' parents' home. , under his leadership, the company is expected to achieve $600 million in sales this year, and Jobs is only 26 years old...As a manager, Jobs was sometimes grumpy and harsh with his subordinates. By his own admission : 'I had to learn how to control my emotions.'”
Despite his fame and fortune, Jobs still considered himself a child of the counterculture.On one visit to a Stanford class, he took off his Wilkes Bashford suit and shoes, sat at a table, and meditated cross-legged.The students asked some difficult questions, such as when Apple's stock price would rise, and Jobs ignored them. Instead, he began to talk about his passion for future products, such as building a computer as small as a book one day.Gradually, no one asked business questions, and Jobs began to ask these well-dressed students. "How many of you are still virgins?" he asked.Someone below giggled uncomfortably. "How many of you have tried LSD?" The laughter grew louder, and only one or two raised their hands.Later, Jobs complained about the children of this generation. In his opinion, this group of children is more materialistic than his generation, and they are bent on pursuing fame and fortune. "When I was in school, the trend of thought in the 1960s had just passed, and the social ethos of pragmatism and purpose had not prevailed," he said. "Children nowadays are not willing to think in an idealistic way at all. Not even idealism. They certainly don’t let any of the philosophical issues of the day take up too much of their time, because they’re busy with their business majors.” He said his generation was different. "The idealism of the '60s still haunts us, and most of the people I know my age have it permanently stamped on their hearts."
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Notes: