24 unknown facts about Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs is well-known to all of us. But do we really know all about the legacy of one of the most successful business magnates of our times? The visionary who revolutionized the world of technology led a life that was far from conventional. 

Here are a few facts about Steve Jobs that you may have not known before:

1. Steve Jobs was born to a Syrian father and American mother, but he was adopted soon after birth by Clara and Paul Jobs. Jobs’ parents had one condition that his foster parents should be college-educated. But neither Clara nor James ever went to college. 
2. Steve Jobs met Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak when in school when he was just 13.
   

   

3. At the age of 13, Jobs cold-called Hewlett-Packard’s co-founder Bill Hewlett to ask for spare parts for an electronic project. To his surprise, Bill picked up the phone. Impressed by his conviction and audacity, Bill offered him a summer job at Hewlett-Packard.
4. Jobs had been a pescetarian for most of his life before becoming a fruitarian – a diet that includes fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds.
5. In 1972, Jobs joined Reed College but dropped it the same year with a GPA of 2.65. Jobs continued his education by auditing classes informally. Jobs once audited a calligraphy course that went on to become instrumental in the font and typography of Apple.
6. He traveled to India to study Zen Buddhism. He lived off three meals at the local Hare Krishna temple and slept on the floors in his friend’s dorm room.
   
   
7. Jobs was removed from Apple in 1985. Jobs then applied for the job of a civilian astronaut on the Space Shuttle but was not approved. 
8. Jobs purchased Pixar, the animation studio before joining Apple as CEO again in 1997.
9. At the age of 23, Jobs was worth over $1 million. At 25, his net worth was $250 million that made him one of the youngest people to make it to the Forbes list of the nation’s richest people. 

   

10. Jobs has a child named Lisa Brennan who he had at the age of 23. He denied Lisa’s paternity for many years. A new Apple computer was named Apple Lisa around Lisa’s birth. Jobs has insisted that the name is just an acronym for Local Integrated Software Architecture.
11.  Jobs remunerated himself with $1 a year during his time at Apple. He was however a majority shareholder of Disney stock and held 5.5 million in Apple shares.
    
    
12. Jobs was invited to spend the night in the Lincoln bedroom of the White House by Bill Clinton.
13. Much of Jobs’ monetary fortune was not left to his children.
14.  Steve Jobs’ famous last words on his deathbed were, “Oh wow, oh wow, oh wow.” 
15. October 16, 2011, was declared Steve Jobs Day by the governor of California and is still celebrated every year in the state of California.
16. Jobs met his biological sister Mona Simpson at 27 and grew quite close to her. He shared his artistic traits with her. The movie Anywhere But Here is based on a book by Simpson and dedicated to Jobs.
17. In 1993, Jobs was on Fortune‘s list of America’s Toughest Bosses.
    
    
18. Steve Jobs never learned how to code. 
19. Jobs had an entire team dedicated to the study of the experience of opening a box and the excitement and emotional response it entails.
20. Jobs has 346 patents related to design and technology listed under his name.
21. Jobs never used a license plate on his silver Mercedes. He manipulated the California rule that a car must have a plate within 6 months, by changing the car every 6 months to an identical one.
    
    
22. Jobs is often known to have parked his car in the spaces reserved for the handicapped.
23. Jobs served as a mentor for Google duo Sergey Brin and Larry Page. It is said that JObs had been furious when Google introduced Android as a competitor to Apple.
24. Jobs sought alternative medication to cure pancreatic cancer instead of getting an operation immediately. He followed a vegan diet, with herbal remedies and acupuncture.