What The Apple CEO REALLY Thinks Of Microsoft's Founder
Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, two titans of tech, have been friends, competitors, and colleagues. They've even gone on double-dates.
So what does Steve Jobs have to say about Microsoft's founder? We went looking, and have compiled a list of Steve Jobs' best quotes about Bill Gates.
The claws come out as Jobs challenges Gates's creativity and criticizes aspects of Microsoft's business. But the Apple CEO also softens up, likens their relationship to matrimony, and speaks fondly of the legacy Gates will leave. There's even a cute video from a 1983 Apple event when Gates "woos" Jobs during a company-sponsored dating game.
Gates: Copycat?
, Jobs was asked how he felt about Gates's success. "[H]ow do
feel about Bill Gates getting rich off some of the ideas that we had ..." Jobs wondered. "Well, you know, the goal is not to be the richest man in the cemetery. It's not my goal anyway."
"Third Rate"
In 1996, shortly before Microsoft was deemed an "abusive monopoly,"
Steve Jobs offered his opinion of the growing, and successful, PC giant: "I guess I am saddened, not by Microsoft's success – I have no problem with their success, they've earned their success for the most part. I have a problem with the fact that they just make really third rate products."
"A Bit Narrow"
In 1997, Steve Jobs offered his blunt assessment of Gates and Microsoft: "I wish [Bill Gates] the best," Jobs said. "I really do. I just think he and Microsoft are a bit narrow. He'd be a broader guy if he had dropped acid once or gone off to an ashram when he was younger."
United Again
At the All Things D conference in 2007 Steve Jobs set the record straight regarding his relationship with Bill Gates. Although the two are business rivals, Steve Jobs joked during the event that he and Bill Gates have "kept our marriage a secret for 10 years."
Copycat
At Apple's 2006 Worldwide Developer's conference, Steve Jobs dredged up old accusations that Microsoft aped the innovations made by Apple and other companies. "Our friends [at Microsoft] spend $5 billion a year on research and development," Jobs reportedly said, "And yet these days all they seem to be able to do is try and copy Google and Apple."
Gates's Legacy
In 2007, Jobs and Gates took the stage for the first time in over 20 years. The two CEOs were cordial, even complimentary during the conference. In response to a question about Gates's legacy, Jobs said, "I think the world’s a better place because Bill realized that his goal isn’t to be the richest guy in the cemetery, right?" (2007).
Back in 1983, Apple hosted a dating-style game show that featured Steve Jobs as the lucky bachelor. The panel of 'suitors' consists of the day's industry leaders. Though Bill Gates, Suitor #3, appears to have Jobs's affections, Jobs surprises the panel and chooses all three.
"During 1984," Suitor Gates says during his introduction, "Microsoft expects to get half of its revenues from Macintosh software." [Wild applause from the audience, huge grin from Bachelor Jobs.] Later, Gates says that the Macintosh, of all the machines he's ever seen, is the only one that truly captures the imagination. How could Bachelor Jobs pass that up?
