Steve Jobs On Mark Zuckerberg: Former Apple CEO Admired Facebook Co-Founder

On Sunday, "60 Minutes" aired a 30-minute interview with Steve Jobs' biographer Walter Isaacson, whose eagerly awaited biography "Steve Jobs" was released October 24.

While the book itself is filled with Jobs' intensely negative feelings toward Google, he did have some complimentary things to say about Facebook and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

"60 Minutes" ran several clips of Isaacson's taped interviews with the late Apple co-founder, who can be heard discussing his thoughts on Zuckerberg in an audio clip released as bonus footage alongside the full interview with Isaacson.

Said Jobs of Facebook's founder, "I admire Mark Zuckerberg. I only know him a little bit, but I admire him for not selling out, for wanting to make a company. I admire that a lot."

(Visit CBS News to view more bonus footage from the "60 Minutes" interview.)

Jobs was notoriously critical of those he saw as sell-outs and always maintained that the business choices he made were in the service of creating a great product, not making the most money. He discussed this in another interview with Isaacson where he talks about longtime rival, former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates: "Bill ended up the wealthiest guy around, and if that was his goal then he achieved it, but it's never been my goal, and I even wonder in the end if it was really his goal."

Jobs' respect for Zuckerberg may have hinged on his perception that they were similarly determined to do what they thought was right for their companies no matter the consequences. According to Forbes, "Where Zuckerberg most resembles Jobs is in the strength of conviction he places in his vision [...] Zuckerberg has managed to court the masses without ever submitting to the so-called wisdom of the crowd."

There were also other, more superficial, similarities. Both men were college dropouts who founded their companies at a young age -- Zuckerberg was 19 and Jobs was 21.

Zuckerberg's actions indicate that Jobs' admiration for him was mutual. Zuckerberg reportedly modeled Facebook's annual developers conference, F8, on Apple's MacWorld. Although, at first, people doubted that the awkward Zuckerberg could step into Jobs' shoes as the tech world's "rock star," Zuckerberg is apparently becoming more of a cult figure with each Facebook announcement .

In March, M.I.C Gadget started selling a Mark Zuckerberg action figure until Facebook forced them to stop. Several months earlier, Apple had reacted the same way when M.I.C Gadget tried to distribute a an action figure in the likeness of Steve Jobs.

When Jobs passed away on October 5, Zuckerberg posted a note to Facebook that read, "Steve, thank you for being a mentor and a friend. Thanks for showing that what you build can change the world. I will miss you."

To watch Walter Isaacson's entire "60 Minutes interview, plus bonus footage, click here.

To see what else Steve Jobs has to say about his fellow tech titans, according to Isaacson's biography, check out the slideshow (below).

Comments

[munki]

11:32 AM on 10/26/2011

When can I get the book? Did he autographed some before???

[JohnnyRivers]

01:59 AM on 10/26/2011

From my IPhone... After reading and hearing TOO MUCH about Jobs -- Today I walked by a fresh stack of at least 100 of his books for sale and I was not inclined to even slow to get a better look at the cover.

[LOSTeph]

01:29 AM on 10/26/2011

Bill Gates is not stoned. Please check out the TNT film and it's on dvd, Pirates of Silicon Valley, story of Microsoft and Apple creators Gates and Jobs - an awesome film

[Marc Sanders]

09:43 PM on 10/25/2011

look at his eyes and that smile.hes stoned outta his mind!

[Jamf]

09:33 PM on 10/25/2011

Zuckerberg was an innovator. However, his incredibly cavalier attitude with respect to personal privacy is a big problem for me. While he purports to have addressed these concerns in the form of privacy settings inside the software, I remain skeptical.

[0x00000000]

08:41 PM on 10/25/2011

>>> When Larry Page stepped into the role of Google CEO after Eric Schmidt stepped down, Page called Jobs to get tips on being a good CEO.

>>> "My first thought was, 'F*** you.'" Jobs said of the call.

LOL!

But one of my favorite recent Steve Jobs episodes had to do with MobileMe.

Shamelessly *plagiarizing* verbatim from *several* different sources:

After reports of crashing servers, laggardly logons, and general crappiness, Jobs walked in to a meeting of the MobileMe team, clad in his trademark black mock turtleneck and blue jeans, clasped his hands together, and asked a simple question:

"Can anyone tell me what MobileMe is supposed to do?"

When one foolhardy exec explained the aim of the service, Jobs shot back: "So why the f*** doesn't it do that."

For the next half-hour Jobs berated the group. “You’ve tarnished Apple’s reputation,” he told them. “You should hate each other for having let each other down.”

He then summarily fired a few employees.

Totally awesome! LOL! Steve Jobs did exactly what a customer would want to do if given the opportunity to face the developers of a flawed product. (Bill Gates wrote an awesome e-mail rant about Microsoft's "Movie Maker" to various engineers, so I have some respect for him, too.)

[Ryan Da Boss Goss]

08:16 PM on 10/25/2011

Wait wait wait wait wait...Jobs is berating someone else for "shamelessly ripp[ing] off other people's ideas"?

My respect for him just plummeted. That is one of the most hypocritical statements I've heard a person this famous say.

[seanathairTim]

06:17 PM on 10/25/2011

He thought he was cute!

[marie phd]

05:33 PM on 10/25/2011

If Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg were women, men would be falling all over themselves telling us how ugly they were. Why is it men get this pass?

[Fred King]

04:44 PM on 10/25/2011

It doesn't matter what they "really" say about each other...Billionaires stick together because they're on a very elite team. One for all & all for one...as they say. And frankly...they could care less about those of us who subsist on pension & social security checks. It's just the nature of the beasts, folks! ;-))

[abuckley23]

04:41 PM on 10/25/2011

Well of course he's going to say nice things publicly. However once behind closed doors I'm sure 'pansy ass' and 'conceited, pale, little, sonoffa@#$%' were thrown around freely...

[DessLoch]

12:29 PM on 10/25/2011

But...what did he think of Reed Hastings????

"NeXTflix?"

[Servility]

11:38 AM on 10/25/2011

Do we really care what approval rating Steve Jobs gave to various people and companies?

[emak]

11:33 AM on 10/25/2011

Jobs was a brilliant person and really believed in the quality of the product.

However, I always get a chuckle of the reasoning
'Jobs was notoriously critical of those he saw as sell-outs and always maintained that the business choices he made were in the service of creating a great product, not making the most money'

As Apple products are always sold 'notoriously' at quite a premium price.

It is not that I am selling you a $400 iPhone at 50% margin to make money, I am selling it at $400 because it is a great product.

But hey it sells and it sell well.

[CocoAnn]

12:43 PM on 10/25/2011

Exactly! He was indeed a brilliant person. However if he was in it for the innovation and the best prossible products, why didn't he give away the iPhones and iPads for free or made it available at a cheaper price...

[FatalFlaw]

11:32 AM on 10/25/2011

So, a sociopath thinks another sociopath is great. Why are we supposed to care?

[raplano]

01:08 PM on 10/25/2011

Jobs cared more about "history" than his own family. What do you want people to say at your funeral?
"He was a great businessman, always ready with the next innovation"
OR
"He was a great friend, always there for me when I needed him."

Jobs made his priorities clear, and I think he'll get what he sought. Great Businessman status. That is not for me... but the world is lucky that some people have that focus.