Hacker Newsnew | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submitlogin

"They didn't care about the money"

While your statement is true about Wozniak from what I know it's not true about Jobs. He was a business person and he knew how to make a buck in addition to wanting to "change the world". Same with Gates for that matter.



I believe, and of course I may be wrong, that SJ did care about money, but as a means of something.

I'm sure he would be very bothered if he didn't have money to take Apple to a fair, or to get the needed parts.

(of course, if you're starving you care about money)


“Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me” - Jobs “Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful . . . that’s what matters to me.” - Jobs


You could argue that he was smart enough to say things like that. Who wants to hear a rich guy say how much he loves having such a shitload of money that most people could not even imagine it?


"You could argue that he was smart enough to say things like that."

Agree. There is a pattern with people with money who do this. Oprah on her show would take people to her Chicago house which was nice but not opulent in the same way as her other houses. And she would make random statements about the cost of things to try and sound like an ordinary person. As if we are supposed to believe that someone worth hundreds of millions really needs to care about the price of vegetables in the super market? People try to wear frugality like a badge of courage trying to seem like "real" folk. I know of a particular wealthy VC who talks about flying coach. They are trying to say "I'm just like you.." don't be jealous.

While I've seen many wealthy people give away plenty of money to charities I have yet to see one (while still alive) that gives away all of their money except enough to live like an ordinary person in suburbia would do. Or even a majority of their money.

Trump of course has made a good living out of trying to say what a "shitload" of money he has. That's because that is what he is trying to sell an image of being successful which has of course helped him become successful. That's part of his product.


He proved through is way of living that he wasn't about the money. He lived by all metrics a fairly simple and humble private live far from the Ellifsons out there.


He may not have cared about money as much as other rich people, but it seems like he loved to make money, or, in another sense, sell a lot of something.


Of course but that isn't the same IMHO


Actually, one of his houses was less than a mile from Larry's place.


I feel compelled to point out that what Steve Jobs said and what Steve Jobs did very rarely aligned all that much.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: