Bill Gates gets candid about rival Steve Jobs: He “cast spells on people”
According to Microsoft founder Bill Gates, his rival Apple CEO Steve Jobs “cast spells on people” to keep Apple profitable during the dark days of the company.
Both men are known for creating an intense workplace culture and being tough leaders. Gates realised that Jobs’ leadership style was a good example of “don’t do this at home”.
Gates spoke to Fareed Zakaria from CNN about his relationship with Jobs.
"I have yet to meet any person who in terms of picking talent, hyper-motivating that talent and having a sense of design, of 'this is good, this is not good.' So he brought some incredibly positive things along with that toughness."
Gates reflected on Jobs and the way he “cast spells on people”.
"Steve is really a singular case where the company was on a path to die and it goes and becomes the most valuable company in the world with some products that are really quite amazing. There aren't going to be many stories like that."
Gates also admitted that his intense workplace culture went “too far”, especially in the early days of the company.
"We had, to some degree, a self-selected set of people who were mostly males, I'll admit, and yes, we were pretty tough on each other," Gates said. "We counted on each other to work very long hours and I always wanted to set the best example of that. I think that intensity, even though a little bit it went too far, was great for my 20s, 30s, 40s."