Reactions of Fellow Tech Giants on the Death of Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs is the mastermind behind Apple’s iPhone, iPad, iPod, iMac and iTunes, opening several doors for technological advancement. With his death, fellow tech experts offer their condolences as well as praises for the man whose ideas brought joy and convenience to millions.
Bill Gates (Chairman, Microsoft):
“I’m truly saddened to learn of Steve Jobs’ death. Melinda and I extend our sincere condolences to his family and friends, and to everyone Steve has touched through his work. Steve and I first met nearly 30 years ago, and have been colleagues, competitors and friends over the course of more than half our lives. The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for many generations to come. For those of us lucky enough to get to work with him, it’s been an insanely great honor. I will miss Steve immensely.”
Eric Schmidt (Chairman, Google Inc.)
“He’s clearly the most effective and successful American CEO in the last 50 years. He didn’t just found Apple, and he didn’t actually just make it successful in the first decade, he also took it after a bad period, and rebuilt it. Which has essentially never been done in an American corporations, to be the extraordinary company it is today. To me, Steve proves that nerds don’t win. Artists do. And that Steve who is both a technologist, but really an artist, shows that art matters and the rest of us missed the fact that beautiful simple products are what people want.
[Jobs is] a personal friend and I served on his board for three years. And in his case, working with his, they just adore working for him, and although he’s famously loud and precise and so forth, they respect him so much. I think in many ways, Steve is who he is because he’s just so smart. And that when you have someone who is just that brilliant and is able to integrate those ways in ways that almost no one else in the world can, he gets the extra bit of respect that allows him to be a great leader.”
Mark Zuckerberg (Founder and CEO, Facebook):
“Steve, thank you for being a mentor and a friend. Thanks for showing that what you build can change the world. I will miss you.”
Jerry Yang (Co-founder and former CEO, Yahoo!, Inc.)
“Steve was my hero growing up. He not only gave me a lot of personal advice and encouragement, he showed all of us how innovation can change lives. I will miss him dearly, as will the world.”