Apple CEO Steve Jobs had quite a reputation by the time of his death in 2011. However, as more and more facts have been uncovered, we continue to learn more about his personality and the life he truly led. Below are seven extremely rare and little-known facts about one of the most eccentric and brilliant men who ever lived.
Number Seven: Steve Jobs Never Wrote a Single Line of Code
Jobs was never a star programmer; in fact, he never wrote a single line of code for Apple. Instead, he left the programming up to Steve Wozniak, while he focused on making Apple products user-friendly and approachable.
Number Six: He Followed Strange Diets
Jobs went through several periods of intense and extreme vegan diets, including one of only fruit, titled fruitarianism. He was such a devout follower that he believed it would eliminate his need to shower. However, this was not the case, and eventually he was eating so much fruit that his skin changed colors.
Number Five: Steve Jobs Was Basically Insane
Though “eccentric” and “insane” are often used interchangeably for people of Steve Jobs’ level of intellect, one instance suggests he may have actually been crazy. In 2008, Jobs called Google’s Senior Vice President of Engineering just to complain that an “o” in the word “Google” looked too yellow on his iPhone. What may be even crazier is that the VP actually changed the letter’s color to appease him.
Number Four: He Was a Zero
Woz and Jobs had to decide who would be number one and who would be number two on their badges. In an effort to one-up Woz, who was originally offered the number one badge, Jobs decided to go with number zero, arguing that it came before the number one.
Number Three: He Didn’t Believe in Modern Medicine
Jobs waited nine months after the discovery of his pancreatic cancer in 2003 to have surgery. He ignored the advice of many doctors and instead opted for acupuncture and extreme diets, such as the fruitarianism mentioned above.
Number Two: He Saved Pixar
Jobs bought Pixar from Star Wars magnate George Lucas in 1986 for a hefty $10 million dollars, and he helped streamline the company to the success story it is today. He was able to sell Pixar to Disney in 2006 for an even heftier $7.4 billion, making him Disney’s largest-ever shareholder.
Number One: He Was Homeless
Well, not for his entire life. Jobs was reportedly homeless at an earlier time in his life, though, and he allegedly collected empty Coke bottles for five cents a pop to pay for food. Each week when he was homeless, he traveled seven miles just to have one good meal at a Hare Krishna temple.