Steve Jobs

ar 239 o buy it for Apple,\" Jobs recalled. n't interested, and they were busy n made hardware and software for had a group of computer anima y a talented cartoon-loving execu o had completed his first Star Wars ous divorce, and he needed to sell find abuyer as soon as possible. balked in the fall of 1985, Catmull decided to seek investors so that ves. So they called Jobs, arranged his Woodside house. After railing idiocies ofSculley, Jobs proposed outright. Catmull and Smith de t a newowner. But it soonbecame : Jobs could buy a majority ofthe llow Catmull and Smith to run it. s really into computer graphics,\" way ahead of others in combin at I've always been interested in.\" plus invest another $5 million to e company. Thatwas far less than ng was right. They decided to ne casfilm found Jobs arrogant and d a meeting ofall the players, he he right pecking order.\" The plan thJobs, and then the CFO would sh that he was the person running ppened,\" Catmull recalled. \"Steve t the CFO, and by the time the control ofthe meeting.\" Lucas, who warned him that the out making animated movies than ou know, these guys are hell-bent

240 Walter on animation,\" Lucas told him. L thatwas basically Ed and John's ag the company because thatwas his The final agreement was reache for his $10 million investment, Jo with the rest of the stock distribut and thethirty-eight other foundin ist. The division's most importan Pixar Image Computer, and from For a while Jobs let Catmull a interference. Every month or so t ing, usually at NeXT headquarte finances and strategy. Nevertheless trolling instincts, Jobs was soon pl a stream of ideas—some reasonabl hardware and software could beco the Pixar offices, he was an inspir Baptist, and we had revival meet preachers,\" recounted Alvy Ray S the tongue and the web of word aware of this when we had board nose scratching or ear tugs—for in Steve's distortion field and he n Jobs had always appreciated th software, which iswhatPixar didw ing software. It also produced crea and graphics. All three elements of artistic creativity and technolo don't really respect Hollywood cre think thattech folks are people yo later said. \"Pixar was one place wh Initially the revenue was sup side. The Pixar Image Computer tomers were animators and grap soon found specialized markets data could be rendered in three-di

Isaacson Lucas later recalled, \"I did warn him genda. I think in his heart hebought agenda too.\" ed inJanuary 1986. It provided that, obs would own 70% of the company, ted to Ed Catmull,Alvy Ray Smith, ng employees, down to thereception nt piece of hardware was called the it the new company took its name. and Smith run Pixar without much they would gather for a board meet ers, where Jobs would focus on the ss, by dint ofhis personality and con laying astronger role. Hespewed out le, others wacky—about what Pixar's ome. And on his occasional visits to ring presence. \"I grew up a Southern tings with mesmerizing but corrupt Smith. \"Steve's got it: the power of ds that catches people up. We were meetings, sowe developed signals— when someone had been caught up needed to be tugged backto reality.\" he virtue ofintegrating hardware and withitsImage Computer andrender eative content, such as animated films s benefited from Jobs's combination ogical geekiness. \"Silicon Valley folks eative types, and the Hollywood folks ou hire and never have to meet,\" Jobs here both cultures were respected.\" pposed to come from the hardware r sold for $125,000. The primary cus phic designers, but the machine also in the medical industry (CAT scan imensional graphics) and intelligence

Pixa fields (for rendering information from lites). Because ofthe sales tothe Nati get a security clearance, which must assigned to vet him. At one point, a called by the investigator to go over answered unabashedly. \"Thelast time on occasion he would answer that no particular drug. Jobs pushed Pixar to build a low that would sell for around $30,000 linger design it, despite protests by C It ended up looking like the origina was a cube with a round dimple in t signature thin grooves. Jobs wanted to sell Pixar's compu the Pixar folks open up sales offic design—in major cities, on the theor come up with all sorts of ways to us people are creative animals and will tools that the inventor never imagin would happen with the Pixar compu But the machine never took hold wi much, and there were not manysoftw On the software side, Pixar had Reyes (Renders everything you ever and images. AfterJobs became chair language and interface, named Rend comea standardfor 3-D graphics ren was for laserprinting. As he had with the hardware, Jo to find a mass market, rather than ju ware they made. He was never conte high-end specialized markets. \"He w how RenderMan couldbe for everym marketing director. \"He kept coming peoplewould use it to make amazing

ar 241 m reconnaissance flights and satel ional Security Agency, Jobs had to t have been fun for the FBI agent a Pixar executive recalled, Jobs was the drug use questions, which he e I used that...,\" hewould say, or o, he had actually never tried that wer-cost version of the computer 0. He insisted that Hartmut Ess Catmull and Smith about his fees. al Pixar Image Computer, which the middle, but it had Esslinger's uters to a mass market, so he had ces—for which he approved the ry that creative people would soon se the machine. \"My view is that figure out clever new ways to use ned,\" he later said. \"I thought that uter, just as it did with the Mac.\" ith regular consumers. It cost too ware programs for it. d a rendering program, known as r saw), for making 3-D graphics rman, the company created a new derMan, that it hoped would be ndering, just asAdobe's PostScript obs decided that they should try ust a specialized one, for the soft ent to aim only at the corporate or would have these great visions of man,\" recalled Pam Kerwin, Pixar's up with ideas abouthowordinary g 3-D graphics and photorealistic

242 Walter images.\"The Pixar team would try derMan was not aseasy to use as, s Jobs would go to a whiteboard and and more user-friendly. \"Wewoul excited and say, 'Yes, yes, this wil then he would leave and we would say, 'What the heck was he thinki that you almost hadto getdeprogr it turned out, average consumers w that wouldlet them renderrealistic There was, however, one comp rendering of animators' drawings i Disneyled a board revolution at th founded, the new CEO, Michael Disney said that he would like to fading animation department. On at ways to computerize the process ated a packageof customizedhard Computer Animation Production for the final scene of The Little M good-bye to Ariel. Disney bough as CAPS became an integral part Animation The digital animation business a animated films—was originally ju to show off the hardware and soft John Lasseter, a man whose child artistic perfectionism that rivaled Lasseter grew up loving Saturday grade, he wrote a report on the hi cided then how he wished to spen When he graduated from hig animation program at the Califo

Isaacson yto dissuade himbysaying that Ren say, Excel or Adobe Illustrator. Then dshow themhow to make it simpler ld be nodding our heads and getting ll be great!'\" Kerwin recalled. \"And d consider it for a moment and then king!' He was so weirdly charismatic rammed after you talked to him.\" As were not craving expensive software c images. RenderMandidn't take off. pany that was eager to automate the into color images for film. When Roy he company that his uncleWalt had l Eisner, asked what role he wanted. o revive the company's venerable but ne of his first initiatives was to look ss, and Pixarwon the contract. It cre dware and software known as CAPS, n System. It was first used in 1988 Mermaid, in which KingTriton waves ht dozens of Pixar Image Computers of its production. at Pixar—the group that made litde ust a sideline, its main purpose being ftware of the company. It was run by dlike face and demeanor masked an d that of Jobs. Born in Hollywood, y morning cartoon shows. In ninth istory of Disney Studios, and he de nd his life. gh school, Lasseter enrolled in the ornia Institute of the Arts, founded

Pix by Walt Disney. In his summers a Disney archives and worked as a g Disneyland. The latter experience ta pacing in telling a story, an importa when creating, frame byframe, anim Academy Award for the short he m the Lampy which showed his debt t his signature talent for infusing inan human personalities. After graduati was destined: as an animator at Disn Except it didn't work out. \"Som bring Star Wars-level quality to the a in check,\" Lasseter recalled. \"I got d feud between two bosses, and the he 1984Ed Catmulland Alvy RaySmi where Star Wars-level quality was be certain that George Lucas, already w puter division, would really approve Lasseterwas given the title \"interfac AfterJobs came onto the scene, h passionfor graphic design. \"I wasthe ist, so I bondedwith Steve over his d a gregarious, playful, and huggable shirts, kept his office cluttered withv ers.Jobs was a prickly, whip-thin ve uncluttered surroundings. But they other. Lasseter was an artist, soJobs t seter viewed Jobs, correctly, as a pat and knew howit could be interwove Jobs and Catmull decided that, in and software, Lasseter shouldprodu 1986 for SIGGRAPH, the annual c the time, Lasseterwas using the Lux graphic rendering, and he decided to ter. A friend's young childinspired h a fewtest frames to another animato

ar 243 and spare time, he researched the guide on the Jungle Cruise ride at aught him thevalue of timing and ant but difficult concept to master mated footage. He won the Student made in his junior year, Lady and to Disney films and foreshadowed nimate objects such as lamps with ion he took the job for which he ney Studios. me of us younger guys wanted to art of animation, but we were held disillusioned, then I got caughtin a eadanimation guyfired me.\" So in ithwere able to recruithim to work eing defined, Lucasfilm. It was not worried about the cost of his com e of hiring a full-time animator, so ce designer.\" he and Lasseter beganto share their e onlyguy at Pixarwho was an art design sense,\" Lassetersaid. He was man who wore flowery Hawaiian vintage toys, and loved cheeseburg egetarian who favored austere and were actually well-suited for each treated him deferentially, and Las tron who could appreciate artistry en with technology and commerce. n order to show off their hardware uce another short animatedfilm in computer graphics conference. At xolamp on his desk as a model for o turn Luxo into a lifelike charac him to add Luxo Jr., and he showed or, who urgedhim to makesurehe

244 Walter toldastory. Lasseter said hewas m reminded him that a story can be t took the lessonto heart.Luxojr en it told the tale of a parent lamp an and forth until the ballbursts,to th Jobs was so excited that he to NeXT to fly down with Lasseter held in Dallas that August. \"It was walk outside the air hit us like There were ten thousand people a Artistic creativity energized him, e technology. There was a long line to get in were beingscreened, soJobs, not o way in first. Luxojr got a prolong the best film. \"Oh, wow!\" Jobs exc I get what it's allabout.\" As he late one that had art to it, not just goo ing that combination,just asthe M Luxojr was nominated for anA to Los Angeles to be there for th became committed to making ne though there was not much of a times got tough at Pixar, he woul meetings showing no mercy. Then they hadjust saved be used for his Tin Toy Not all ofJobs's relationships at P came with Catmull's cofounder, background in rural north Texas, pie computer imaging engineer w personality—and occasionally an e a high color, friendly laugh, and a

Isaacson making only ashort, but the animator told even in a few seconds. Lasseter nded up being just overtwo minutes; nd a child lamp pushing a ball back he child's dismay. ook time off from the pressures at to SIGGRAPH, which was being s so hot and muggythat when we'd a tennis racket,\" Lasseter recalled. at the trade show, andJobs loved it. especially when it was connected to nto the auditorium where the films oneto waithis turn, fast-talked their ged standing ovation andwas named claimed at the end. \"I really get this, er explained, \"Our film was the only od technology. Pixar was about mak Macintosh had been.\" Academy Award,andJobs flewdown he ceremony. It didn't win, but Jobs ew animated shorts each year, even business rationale for doing so. As ld sit through brutal budget-cutting n Lasseter would ask that the money s next film, andJobs would agree. Pixar were as good. His worst clash Alvy Ray Smith. From a Baptist Smith became a free-spirited hip with a big build, big laugh, and big ego to match. \"Alvyjust glows, with a whole bunch of groupies at confer-

Pixa ences,\" saidPam Kerwin. \"A persona Steve. Theyare bothvisionaries andh not as willingto make peace and ove Smith saw Jobs as someone who abuse power. \"He was like a televan to control people, but I would not we clashed. Ed was much more able sometimes assert his dominance at a m rageous or untrue. Smith took great would do so with a large laugh and a to Jobs. One day at a board meeting, Jo other top Pixar executives for the de completed for the new version of th time, NeXT was also very late in com and Smith pointed that out: \"Hey, y boards, soquitjumping onus.\"Jobs w \"totally nonlinear.\" When Smith wa tional, he tended to lapse into his s parodying it in his sarcastic style. \"It w with everything I had,\" Smith recalle each other's faces—about three inches Jobs was very possessive about co meeting, so the burly Smith pushed p \"You can't do that!\"Jobs shouted. \"What?\" responded Smith, \"I c Bullshit.\" At that point Jobs stormed Smith eventually resigned toform for digital drawing and image editing use some code he had created while their enmity. \"Alvy eventually got wh he was very stressed for a year and de end it worked out well enough; Mic company, giving him the distinction pany that was sold to Jobs and anothe Ornery in the best of times, Jobs

r 245 ality like Alvy's was likely to ruffle high energy and highego. Alvy is erlook things as Ed was.\" ose charisma and ego led him to ngelist,\" Smith said. \"He wanted be a slave to him, which is why to go with the flow.\" Jobs would meeting bysaying something out t joy in calling him on it, and he a smirk. This did not endear him obs started berating Smith and elay in getting the circuit boards he Pixar Image Computer. At the mpleting its own computer boards, you're even later with your NeXT went ballistic, orin Smith's phrase, as feeling attacked or confronta southwestern accent. Jobs started was a bully tactic, andI exploded ed. \"Before I knew it, we were in s apart—screaming at each other.\" ontrol of the whiteboard during a pasthim andstarted writing on it. can't write on your whiteboard? d out. anew company to make software g. Jobs refused him permission to at Pixar, which further inflamed hat he needed,\" saidCatmull, \"but eveloped a lung infection.\" In the crosoft eventually bought Smith's of being a founder of one com er that was sold to Gates. s became particularly so when it

246 Walter became clear that all three Pixar animated content—were losing m end I kept having to put in more but then write the check. Having NeXT, he couldn't afford a third s To stem the losses, he ordered executed with his typical empath he had \"neither the emotional n people he wasletting go.\" Jobs ins diately, with no severance pay. Ke parking lot and begged that the em notice. \"Okay,\" he shot back, \"bu weeks ago.\" Catmull was in Mosc to him. When he returned, he wa plan and calmthings downjust a At one point the members of t to convince Intel to let them mak became impatient. During a meet marketing director, he picked up Grove directly. Grove, stillplaying He supported hisIntel manager. \" \"Steve doesn't like to be treatedli Grove also played mentorwhe suggestions on howto improve th 3-D graphics. When the engine sent an email back saying Pixarw Intel's chiefengineer replied, \"W arrangement in exchange forgood past and have no intention for th to Grove, saying that he found the arrogant, given Intel's dismal sh graphics.\" Grove sentJobs a bliste \"what friendly companies and frie that he had oftenfreely shared ide should not be so mercenary. Jobs

r Isaacson endeavors—hardware, software, and money. \"I'd get these plans, and in the e money,\" he recalled. He would rail, g been ousted at Apple and flailing at strike. ed a round of deep layoffs, which he hy deficiency. As Pam Kerwin put it, nor financial runway to be decent to sisted that the firings be done imme erwin tookJobs on a walkaround the employees be given at leasttwoweeks ut the notice is retroactive from two cow, and Kerwin put in frantic calls as able to institute a meager severance a bit. the Pixar animation team were trying ke some of its commercials, and Jobs ting, in the midst of berating an Intel p the phone and called CEO Andy g mentor, tried to teachJobs a lesson: \"I stuck bymyemployee,\" he recalled. ike a supplier.\" enJobs proposed that Pixar give Intel he capacity of its processors to render eers at Intel accepted the offer, Jobs would need to be paid for its advice. We have not entered into any financial d ideas for our microprocessors in the he future.\" Jobs forwarded the answer e engineer's response to be \"extremely howing in understanding computer ering reply, saying that sharing ideas is ends do for each other.\" Grove added eas withJobsin the past and that Jobs relented. \"I havemanyfaults, but one

Pixar ofthem is notingratitude,\" he respon my position 180 degrees—we will fr perspective.\" Pixar was able to create some powe average consumers, or at least those Jobs's passion for designing things. to make super-realistic 3-D images the desktop publishing craze. Pixar's users to change the shadings on the theycould display themfrom various Jobs thought it was incredibly comp contentto live withoutit. It was a cas The software hadso many amazing fe ityJobs usually demanded. Pixar coul was making software that was less s cated and expensive. EvenasPixar's hardware and softw kept protectingthe animation group. land of magical artistrythat gave him was willing to nurture it and bet on i running so short that he convened a cuts across the board. When it was o group were almost too afraid to askJo money for anothershort. Finally, the silent, looking skeptical. It would requ hispocket. Aftera few minutes, he ask Catmull took him down to the anim started his show—displaying hisboar passion for his product—Jobs started The story was about Lasseter's lo the perspective ofa toyone-man band that charms andterrorizes him. Escap otherfrightened toys, but when the ba goes backout to cheerhim up.

r 247 nded. \"Therefore, I have changed reely help. Thanks for the clearer erful software products aimed at e average consumers who shared Jobs still hoped that the ability at home would become part of Showplace, for example, allowed 3-D objects they created so that angles withappropriate shadows. pelling, but most consumers were se where his passions misled him: eatures that it lacked the simplic ldn't compete with Adobe, which sophisticated but far less compli ware productlinesfoundered, Jobs It had become for him a little is m deepemotional pleasure, and he it. In the spring of 1988 cashwas meeting to decree deep spending over, Lasseter and his animation obs about authorizing some extra eybroached the topic andJobs sat uire close to $300,000 moreout of sked if there were anystoryboards. mation offices, and once Lasseter rds, doing the voices, showing his dto warm up. ove, classic toys. It was told from d named Tinny, whomeets a baby ping under the couch, Tinnyfinds aby hitshisheadand cries, Tinny

248 Walter Jobs said he would provide the doing,\" he later said. \"It was art. yes.\" His only comment at the en I ask of you, John, is to make it gr Tin Toy went on to win the 1 short films, the first computer-ge Jobs took Lasseter and his team t San Francisco. Lasseter grabbed t the table,held it aloft,and toasted we make a great movie.\" The new team at Disney—M Katzenberg in the film division—b back. They liked Tin Toy, and they be done with animated stories of t emotions. But Lasseter, gratefulf was the only place where he cou generated animation. He told Ca director, or I can stay here and m ing about making a production de really breathtaking both in storyt recalled Katzenberg. \"I tried so h loyal to Steve and Pixar. So if you cided to look for ways we could make a film about toysfor us.\" By this point Jobs had pour moneyinto Pixar—more than ha cashed out of Apple—and he was hard-nosed about it; he forced a options as part of his agreemen funding in 1991. But he was also istry and technology could do tog sumers would love to do 3-D mo to be wrong, but that was soon out to be right: that combininggr transform animated films more t Walt Disney had givenlife to Sno

Isaacson e money. \"I believed in whatJohn was He cared, and I cared. I always said ndof Lasseter's presentation was, \"All reat.\" 1988 Academy Award for animated enerated film to do so. To celebrate, to Greens, a vegetarian restaurant in the Oscar, whichwas in the center of dJobs by saying, \"All you askedis that Michael Eisner the CEO and Jeffrey —began a questto get Lasseter to come ythought that something morecould toys that come alive and have human for Jobs's faith in him, felt that Pixar uld create a new world of computer- atmull, \"I can go to Disney and be a make history.\" So Disney began talk ealwith Pixar. \"Lasseter's shorts were telling and in the use of technology,\" hard to get him to Disney, but he was u can't beat them, join them. We de d join up with Pixar and have them red close to $50 million of his own alf of what he had pocketedwhen he s stilllosing money at NeXT. He was all Pixar employees to give up their nt to add another round of personal o a romantic in his love for what art gether. His beliefthat ordinary con odeling on Pixar software turned out n replaced by an instinct that turned reat art and digital technologywould than anything had since 1937, when owWhite.

Pixa Looking back,Jobs said that, ha focused on animation soonerand no pany's hardware or software applica known the hardware and software w not have taken overPixar. \"Lifekind and perhaps it was for the better.\"

ar 249 ad he known more, he would have ot worriedabout pushing the com ations. On the other hand, had he would never be profitable, he would d of snookered me into doing that,

CHAPTER A REGUL Love Is Just a F Mona Simpson andherfiance, Ric Joan Baez In 1982, when he was still workin famed folksinger Joan Baez thro headed a charity that was trying prisons. A few weeks later he an wasn't expecting a lot, but shewas At the time, he was nearing the e Jasinski. They had vacationed in H Cruz mountains, and evengone to his relationship with Jasinski flame 2

R TWENTY LAR GUY Four-Letter Word chardAppel, 1991 ng on the Macintosh, Jobs met the ough her sister Mimi Farina, who g to get donations of computers for nd Baez had lunch in Cupertino. \"I really smartand funny,\" he recalled. end of his relationship with Barbara Hawaii, shared a house in the Santa o one of Baez's concerts together. As ed out,Jobs begangetting more seri- 250

A Regula ous with Baez. He was twenty-seve a few years they had a romance. \"It between two accidental friends who somewhat wistful tone. Elizabeth Holmes,Jobss friend one of the reasons he went out wit shewasbeautifiil and funnyand tale the lover of Bob Dylan. \"Steve love latersaid. Baez and Dylanhad been toured asfriends after that, including in 1975. (Jobs had the boodegs of th When she met Jobs, Baez had from her marriage to the antiwar ac told Jobs she was trying to teach G typewriter?\" Jobs asked. When she writer is antiquated.\" \"If a typewriter is antiquated, wh There was an awkward pause. As Ba it, I realized the answer was so obvio air.I was just horrified.\" Much to the astonishment of th the office one day with Baez and Macintosh. They were dumbfounde puter to an outsider, given his obse even more blown away to be in the Gabe an Apple II, and he latergave would show off the features he liked he was so advanced in his knowled me,\" she recalled. He was a sudden multimillionair rity, but sweetly down-to-earth and know what to make of him then, a she talked about him almost thirty their relationship, Jobs started talk Polo Shop, which she admitted she h tiful red dress there that would be p

ar Guy 251 en and Baezwas forty-one, but for t turned into a serious relationship o became lovers,\"Jobs recalled in a d from Reed College, believed that th Baez—other than the fact that ented—was that she had oncebeen ed that connection to Dylan,\" she n lovers in the early 1960s, and they ng with the Rolling Thunder Revue hose concerts.) a fourteen-year-old son, Gabriel, ctivist David Harris. At lunch she Gabe how to type. \"You mean on a e said yes, he replied, \"But a type hat does that make me?\" she asked. aez later told me,\"As soon as I said ous. The question just hung in the he Macintosh team, Jobs burst into showed her the prototype of the ed that he would reveal the com ession with secrecy, but they were e presence of Joan Baez. He gave e Baez a Macintosh. On visits Jobs d. \"He was sweet and patient, but dge that he had trouble teaching re; she was a world-famous celeb d not all that wealthy. She didnt and still found him puzzling when years later. At one dinner early in king about Ralph Lauren and his had nevervisited.\"There's a beau perfect for you,\" he said, and then

252 Walter drove her to the store in the Stan myself, far out, terrific, I'm with on wants me to havethis beautifiil dres bought a handful of shirts for him \"You ought to buy it,\" he said. She she couldn't reallyafford it. He sai you think if someone had talked lik weregoingto get it for you?\" she as about the incident.\"The mystery o a bit strange about it.\" He would g and when he brought her flowers over from an event in the office. \"H be romantic,\" she said. When he was working on the N house in Woodside to showher ho had it play a Brahms quartet, and would sound better than humansp the cadences better,\" Baez recalled was working himself up into a ferv into a rage and thinking,How cou Jobs would confide in Debi Co his relationship with Baez and wo someone who had a teenage son a wanting to have more children. \" being an 'issues' singerand not a tr Hoffman. \"She was a strongwoma control. Plus, he always saidhe wa he knew that he wouldn't.\" And so, after about three yea drifted into becoming just friends. but I really just liked her a lot,\" he be together. I wanted kids, and she memoir, Baezwrote about her brea never remarried: \"I belonged alon then, with occasional interruption

Isaacson nford Mall. Baez recalled, \"I said to ne of the world's richest men and he ss.\" When they got to the store,Jobs mself and showed her the red dress. e was a litde surprised, and told him id nothing, and they left. \"Wouldn't ke that the whole evening, that they sked me,seeming genuinely puzzled of the red dress is in your hands.I felt give her computers, but not a dress, he made sure to say they were left He was both romantic and afraid to NeXT computer, he went to Baez's owwellit could produce music. \"He d he told me eventually computers playing it, evenget the innuendo and d. She was revolted by the idea. \"He vor of delight while I was shrinking uld you defile music like that?\" oleman and Joanna Hoffman about orry about whether he could marry and was probably past the point of \"At times he would belittle her as rue 'political' singerlike Dylan,\"said an,and he wanted to show he was in antedto have a family, and with her ars, they ended their romance and s. \"I thought I was in love with her, e later said. \"We weren't destined to e didn'twant any more.\" In her 1989 akup with her husband and why she ne, which is how I have been since ns that are mostly picnics.\" She did

A Regula add a nice acknowledgment at the en forcing me to use a word processor by FindingJoanne andMona When Jobs was thirty-one, a year a mother Clara, who was a smoker, wa spent time by her deathbed, talking t in the past and asking some question before. \"When youand Dad got marr It was hard for her to talk, but she for him that she had been married befo back from the war. She also filled in so PaidJobs had come to adopt him. Soon after that, Jobs succeeded in had put him up for adoption. His qui the early 1980s, when he hired a dete with anything. Then Jobs noticed th tor on his birth certificate. \"He was i a call,\" Jobs recalled. The doctor wa records had been destroyed in a fire. afterJobs called,the doctor wrote a le wrote on it, \"To be delivered to Ste died a short time later, his widow sen tor explained that his motherhad bee from Wisconsin named Joanne Schie It took another few weeks and to track her down. After giving him logical father, Abdulfattah \"John\" Jan Mona. Jandali abandoned them five colorful ice-skating instructor, Georg last long either,and in 1970 she bega her and Mona (both of them now u Los Angeles.

ar Guy 253 nd of the book to \"Steve Jobs for y putting one in my kitchen.\" after his ouster from Apple, his as stricken with lung cancer. He to her in ways he had rarely done ns he had refrained from raising ried, were you a virgin?\" he asked. rced a smile. That's when she told ore, to a man who never made it ome ofthe details ofhow she and n tracking down the woman who ietquest to find her had begun in ective who had failed to come up he name of a San Francisco doc in the phone book, so I gave him as no help. He claimed that his That was not true. In fact, right etter, sealedit in an envelope, and eveJobs on my death.\" When he nt the letter to Jobs. In it, the doc enan unmarried graduate student eble. the work of another detective m up,Joanne had married his bio ndaU, and they had another child, years later, and Joanne married a ge Simpson. That marriage didn't ana meandering journey that took using the last name Simpson) to

254 Walter Jobs hadbeen reluctant to let P his real parents, know about his sensitivity that was unusual for h fection he felt for his parents, hew So he never contacted Joanne Sim early 1986. \"I never wanted them myparents, because they were tota them so much that I never want I even had reporters keep it quiet Clara died, he decided to tell Pau and said he didn't mind at all if St mother. So one dayJobs called Joanne ranged to come down to Los An it was mainly out of curiosity. \"I heredityin determiningyourtrait about your biological roots,\" he sa that what she had done was allri mother mosdy to see if she was gladI didn'tend up asan abortion through a lot to have me.\" Joanne was overcome with em Angeles house. She knew he was actly surewhy. She immediately b had beenpressured to signthe pap said, and did so onlywhen told th new parents. She had always miss had done. She apologized over an her that he understood, and that t Once she calmed down, she to Simpson, who was then an aspir never told Mona that she had a news, or at least part of it, by tele wonderful, and he's famous, and I so you can meet him,\" she said.M novelabout her mother and their p

Isaacson Paul and Clara, whom he considered search for his birth mother. With a him, and which showed the deep af worried that they might be offended. mpson until after Clara Jobs died in m to feel like I didn't consider them tally my parents,\" he recalled. \"I loved ted them to know of my search, and twhenanyof them found out.\"When ulJobs,who was perfecdycomfortable teve made contact with his biological e Simpson, said who he was, and ar ngeles to meet her. He later claimed I believe in environment more than ts,but stillyou haveto wonder a little aid. He also wanted to reassure Joanne ight. \"I wanted to meet mybiological okay and to thank her, because I'm n. Shewas twenty-three and shewent motion when Jobs arrived at her Los s famous and rich, but she wasn't ex began to pour out her emotions. She pers putting him up for adoption, she hat he was happyin the house of his sed him and suffered about what she nd over, even asJobs kept reassuring things had turned out just fine. old Jobs that he had a full sister, Mona ring novelist in Manhattan. She had brother, and that day she broke the ephone. \"You have a brother, and he's I'm going to bring him to New York Mona was in the throes of finishing a peregrinationfrom Wisconsin to Los

A Regula Angeles, Anywhere butHere. Those w that Joanne was somewhat quirky in the news about herbrother. She refu he had been poor, had gotten rich, w long dark hair, and lived in Californi Review, George Plimpton's literaryjo ofhis townhouse near Manhattan's E began a guessing game on who her That was one of the favorite guesses. pects. At one point someone did tos of those guys who started Apple co their names. The meeting occurred in the lobb totally straightforward andlovely, jus recalled. They all sat and talked for sisterfor a longwalk, just the twoof t he had a sibling who was so similar t their artistry, observant of their surro willed. When they went to dinner architectural details and talked abou sister's a writer!\" he exulted to colleag When Plimpton threwa partyfo Jobs flew to New York to accompany ingly close, though their friendship h expected, considering who theywere \"Mona was not completely thrilled a have her mother so emotionally affec \"As wegot to know each other, webe is my family. I don't know what I'd better sister. My adopted sister, Patty Ukewise developed a deep affection fo protective, although she would later A Regular Guy, that described his qui One of the few things they wou She dressed like a struggling novelist wearing clothes that were \"fetching

ar Guy 255 who've read it will notbesurprised n the way she imparted to Mona used to say who he was—only that was good-looking and famous, had ia. Mona then worked at the Paris ournal housed on the ground floor East River. She and her coworkers brother might be.John Travolta? . Other actors were also hot pros ss out a guess that \"maybe it's one omputer,\" but no one could recall by of the St. Regis Hotel. \"He was st a normal and sweet guy,\" Mona r a few minutes, then he took his them.Jobswas thrilledto find that to him.They were both intense in oundings, and sensitive yet strong- r together, they noticed the same ut them excitedly afterward. \"My gues at Apple when he found out. orAnywhere but Here in late 1986, y Mona to it. They grew increas had the complexities that might be e and howtheyhad come together. at first to have me in her life and ctionate toward me,\" he later said. ecame really good friends, and she do without her. I can't imagine a y, and I were never close.\" Mona orhim, andat times could be very r write an edgy novel about him, irks with discomforting accuracy. uld argue about was her clothes. t, and he would berate her for not enough.\" At one point his com-

256 Walter ments so annoyed her that shewro and this is mylife, and I'm not tryi answer. But shordy after, a boxarr the Japanese fashion designer who style made him one ofJobs's favo shelatersaid, \"andhe'dpicked out tering colors.\" There was one pan and the shipmentincluded three o ber those first suits I sent Mona,\" topsin a pale grayish green that loo The Lost Father In the meantime, Mona Simpson father, who had wanderedoffwhe and Nick Pileggi, prominent Man to a retired New York cop who ha \"I paid him what litde money I ha was unsuccessful. Then she met an was able to find an address for through a Department of Motor brother and flew out from New Y ently their father. Jobs had no interest in meetin later explained. \"I don't hold anyt alive. But what bothers me most He abandoned her.\" Jobs himself daughter, Lisa, and now was tryi that complexity did not soften h went to Sacramento alone. \"It was veryintense,\" Simpson ing in a small restaurant. He seem sive about the entire situation. T recounted that, after he left Wis teaching and gotten into the resta

Isaacson otehim a letter:\"I am a youngwriter, ing to be a model anyway.\" He didn't rived from the store of IsseyMiyake, ose starkand technology-influenced orites. \"He'd gone shopping for me,\" t greatthings, exacdy mysize, in flat ntsuit that he had particularly liked, of them, all identical. \"I still remem \"he said. \"They were linen pants and oked beautiful with her reddish hair.\" had been trying to track down their en shewasfive. Through Ken Auletta nhattan writers, she was introduced ad formed his own detective agency. ad,\" Simpson recalled, but the search nother privateeyein California, who Abdulfattah Jandali in Sacramento r Vehicles search. Simpson told her York to see the man who was appar ng him. \"He didn't treat me well,\" he thing against him—I'm happy to be t is that he didn't treat Mona well. fhad abandoned his own illegitimate ing to restore their relationship, but his feelings toward Jandali. Simpson recalled. She found her fatherwork med happy to see her,yet oddly pas They talked for a few hours, and he sconsin, he had drifted away from aurant business.

A Regula Jobs had asked Simpson not to m one point her father casually remar had another baby, a boy, before she to him?\" she asked. He replied, \"We baby's gone.\" Simpson recoiled but s An even more astonishing revel describing the previous restaurants t some nice ones, he insisted, fancier were then sitting in. He told her, wished she could have seen him wh ranean restaurant north of SanJose. said. \"All of the successful technology SteveJobs\" Simpson was stunned. \"O he was a sweet guy, and a big tipper,\" to refrain from blurting out, SteveJob When the visit was over, she cal pay phone at the restaurant and arran Roma cafe in Berkeley. Adding to th brought along Lisa, now in grade sc Chrisann. When they all arrived atth Simpson poured forth the tale. Jobs when she mentioned the restaurant being there and even meeting the m \"It was amazing,\" he later said of th restaurant a few times, and I remem Syrian. Balding. We shook hands.\" Nevertheless Jobs still had no de man by then, and I didn't trust him go to the press about it,\" he recalled about me.\" She never did, but years later Jan mentioned online. (A blogger noticed asherfather in a reference bookandfi as well.) BythenJandali was married a food and beverage manager at the B westof Reno, Nevada. When he brou

ar Guy 257 mention him, so she didn't. But at rked that he and her mother had had been born. \"What happened e'll never see that baby again. That said nothing. lation occurred when Jandali was that he had run. There had been r than the Sacramento joint they somewhat emotionally, that he hen he was managing a Mediter \"That was a wonderfid place,\" he y people used to come there. Even Oh, yeah, he used to come in, and \" her father added. Mona was able bs isyour son! lled Jobs surreptitiously from the nged to meet him at the Espresso he personal and family drama, he chool, who lived with her mother, hecafe, it was close to 10p.m., and s was understandably astonished t near San Jose. He could recall man who was his biological father. he revelation. \"I had been to that mber meeting the owner. He was esire to see him. \"I was a wealthy m not to try to blackmail me or d. \"I asked Mona not to tell him ndali saw his relationship to Jobs d that Simpson had listed Jandali igured out he mustbeJobs's father d for a fourth time andworking as Boomtown Resort and Casino just ughthis newwife, Roscille, to visit

258 Walter Simpson in 2006, he raised the top Jobs?\" he asked. She confirmed th Jobs had no interest in meeting h \"Myfather is thoughtful and a bea passive,\" Simpson said. \"He never Simpson turned her search for novel, The Lost Father, published i the designer who did the NeXT lo ing to Simpson, \"It was God-awf tracked down various members of America, and in 2011 was writing Syrian ambassador inWashington a cousin and his wife who then liv the occasion. Simpson assumed that Jobs wo time went on he showed even less son, Reed, went to a birthday din les house, Reed spent some time grandfather, butJobs ignored them Syrian heritage. When the Middl tion, the topic did not engage him even after Syria was swept up in don'tthink anybody really knows w he said when I asked whether th intervening more in Egypt, Libya and you're fucked if you don't.\" Jobs did retain a friendly relat Joanne Simpson. Over the years Christmas at Jobs's house.The vis ally draining. Joanne would somet she had loved him, and apologize right, Jobs would reassure her. As worry. I had a great childhood. I t

Isaacson pic. \"Whatis this thingabout Steve he story, but added that she thought him. Jandali seemed to accept that. autiful storyteller, but he isvery, very contacted Steve.\" r Jandali into a basis for her second in 1992. (Jobs convinced PaulRand, ogo, to design the cover, but accord ful and we never used it.\") She also f the Jandali family, in Horns and in g a novel abouther Syrian roots. The n threw a dinner forher that included ved in Florida and had flown up for would eventually meetJandali, but as s interest. In 2010, when Jobs and his nner for Simpson at her Los Ange looking at pictures of his biological m. Nor did he seem to care about his le East would come up in conversa m or evoke his typical strong opinions, the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings. \"I whatweshould be doingover there,\" he Obama administration should be a, and Syria. \"You're fucked if you do tionship with his biological mother, she and Mona would often spend sits could be sweet, but also emotion times break into tears, say howmuch e for giving him up. It turned out all s he told her one Christmas, \"Don't turned out okay.\"

A Regular Lisa LisaBrennan, however, did not have young, her father almost never came father, so I wasn't,\" Jobs latersaid, wi voice. Yet occasionally he felt the tug Jobs was driving near the house he h and he decided to stop. Lisa didn't k doorstep, not venturing inside, and ta repeated once or twice a year. Jobs w a litde bit about Lisa's school options his Mercedes. Butbythetime Lisa turned eight, more frequendy. Jobs was no longer im create the Macintosh or in the subseq ley. He was at NeXT, which was calm in Palo Alto, near where Chrisann an time she was in third grade, it was artistic kid, who had already been sin writing ability. She was spunky and her father's defiant attitude. She also l eyebrows and a faindy Middle Eastern prise of his colleagues, he brought h cartwheels in the corridor, she squeale Avie Tevanian, a lanky and gregar become Jobs's friend, remembers that were going out to dinner, they would up Lisa. \"Hewas very sweet to her,\" T etarian, and so was Chrisann, but she w suggested she order chicken, and she Eating chicken became her little tween twoparents whowere vegetaria ural foods. \"We bought ourgroceries— carob-covered nuts—in yeasty-smellin dye their hair,\"she later wrote about h

r Guy 259 a greatchildhood. When shewas e to see her. \"I didn't want to be a ith only a touch of remorse in his g. One day, when Lisa was three, had bought for her and Chrisann, know who he was. He sat on the alked to Chrisann. The scene was would come by unannounced, talk s or other issues, then drive off in in 1986, thevisits were occurring immersed in the grueling push to quent power struggles with Scul mer, friendlier, and headquartered nd Lisa lived. In addition, by the clear that Lisa was a smart and ngled out by her teachers for her high-spirited and had a litde of looked a bit like him, with arched rn angularity. One day, to the sur her by the office. As she turned ed, \"Lookat me!\" rious engineer at NeXTwho had t every now and then, when they stop byChrisann's house to pick Tevanian recalled. \"Hewas a veg wasn't. He was fine with that. He did.\" e indulgence as she shuttled be ans with a spiritual regard for nat —our puntarella, quinoa, celeriac, ng stores where the women didn't her time with her mother. \"But we

260 Walter sometimes tastedforeign treats. A chicken from a gourmetshopwit on spits, and ate it in the car from fingers.\" Her father, whose dietary more fastidious aboutwhat he ate fulofsoup oneday after learning t ing up a bit while at Apple, he wa at a young age Lisa began to reali philosophy, one in which ascetici subsequent sensations. \"He believe sources, pleasure from restraint,\" that most people didn't know: Thi In a similar way, the absence occasional moments of warmth \"I didn't live with him, but he w a deity among us for a few tingli Lisa soon became interesting eno her. He would also go roUerblad old Palo Alto, often stopping at Andy Hertzfeld. The first time h man, he just knocked on the do Hoffman knewright away. \"It wa told me. \"Nobody has that jaw. suffered from not knowing her ow encouraged Jobs to be a better f later thanked her for it. Once he took Lisa on a busi at the sleek and businesslike Oku sushi bar,Jobs ordered large tray much that he allowed the warm c ian.The pieces were coated with Lisa remembered later how they the distance between them. As s I'd felt, with him, so relaxed and the excess, the permission and w

Isaacson A few times weboughta hot, seasoned th rows and rows of chickens turning m the foil-lined paper bag with our y fixations came in fanatic waves, was e. Shewatchedhim spit out a mouth that it contained butter. Afterloosen as back to being a strict vegan. Even ize his diet obsessions reflected a life ism and minimalism could heighten ved that great harvests came from arid she noted. \"He knew the equations ings ledto theiropposites.\" and coldness of her father made his so much more intensely gratifying. would stop by our house some days, ing moments or hours,\" she recalled. ough that he would take walks with ding with her on the quiet streets of the houses of Joanna Hoffman and he brought her around to see Hoff oor and announced, \"This is Lisa.\" as obvious she was his daughter,\" she It's a signature jaw.\" Hoffman, who wn divorced father until she was ten, father. He followed her advice, and iness trip to Tokyo, and they stayed ura Hotel. At the elegant downstairs ys of unagi sushi, a dish he loved so cooked eel to pass muster as vegetar h fine salt or a thin sweet sauce, and y dissolved in her mouth. So, too, did she later wrote, \"It was the first time d content, over those trays of meat; warmth after the cold salads, meant a

A Regula once inaccessible space had opened even human under the great ceiling meat, and me.\" But it was not always sweetness with Lisa as he was with almost ev and abandonment. On one visit he would becold; often hewas notther their relationship,\" according to Her of hers, and Steve was supposed to She gotextremely anxious and disap come, she totallylit up.\" Lisa learned to be temperamenta relationship would bea roller coaster, gated by their shared stubbornness. for months not speaking to each othe ing out, apologizing, or making the wrestling with repeated health probl he was wistfully going through a bo paused over one that showed him v \"I probably didn't go over there eno spokento her all that year, I asked if with a callor email. He looked at me backto riffling through other old ph The Romantic When it came to women, Jobs coul to fall in love dramatically, share wit relationship, and pine in public when girlfriend. In the summer of 1983 h Silicon Valley withJoan Baez and sa University of Pennsylvania named Je sure who he was. By then he and Ba destined to be forever young togeth

ar Guy 261 d. He was less rigid with himself, gs with the litde chairs, with the s and light. Jobs was as mercurial veryone, cycling between embrace e would be playful; on the next he re at all. \"She was always unsure of rtzfeld. \"Iwent to a birthday party come, and he was very, very, late. ppointed. But when he finally did tal in return. Over the years their r, with each ofthelow points elon After a falling-out, they could go er. Neither onewas good at reach effort to heal, even when he was lems. One day in the fall of 2010 ox of old snapshots with me, and visiting Lisa when she was young. ough,\" he said. Since he had not he might want to reach out to her e blankly for a moment,then went hotographs. ld be deeply romantic. He tended th friends every up and down of a never he was away from his current he went to a small dinner party in at next to an undergraduate at the Jennifer Egan, who was not quite aez had realized that they weren't her, and Jobs found himself fasci-

262 Walter nated byEgan, who was working o summer vacation. He tracked her d to Cafe Jacqueline, a litde bistro n in vegetarian souffles. They dated for a year, and Job Boston Macworld event, he told a he was and thus needed to rush phia to see his girlfriend. The audi visiting New York, she would take Carlyle or at Jay Chiat's Upper Ea eat at Cafe Luxembourg, visit (rep Remo hewas planning to remodel the opera. He and Egan also spoke for ho topic they wresded with was his dhist studies, that it was importa objects. Our consumer desires are enlightenment you need to develo materialism. He evensent her a tap lecturing about the problems caus Egan pushed back. Wasn't he def making computers and other prod irritated by the dichotomy, and w Egan recalled. In the end Jobs's pride in the o bility that people should eschew b When the Macintosh came out in her mother's apartmentin San Fra Penn. Her mother's dinner guests Steve Jobs—suddenly very famou freshly boxed Macintosh and proce Jobs told Egan, as he had a few tion that he wouldnot live a longl impatient, he confided. \"He felta s to get done,\" Egan later said. Thei

Isaacson ona San Francisco weekly during her down, gave her a call, and took her near Telegraph Hill that specialized bs often flew east to visit her. At a a large gathering how much in love out to catch a plane for Philadel ience, was enchanted. When hewas the train up to stay with him at the ast Side apartment, and theywould peatedly) the apartment in the San l, and goto movies or (once at least) ours on the phone manynights. One belief, which came from his Bud ant to avoid attachment to material unhealthy, he told her, and to attain op a life of nonattachment and non- pe of Kobun Chino, his Zen teacher, sed by craving and obtainingthings. fying that philosophy, she asked, by ducts that people coveted? \"He was we had exuberant debates about it,\" objects he made overcame his sensi being attached to such possessions. n January 1984, Egan was staying at ancisco during her winter breakfrom ts were astonished one night when us—appeared at the door carrying a eeded to Egan's bedroom to set it up. w other friends, about his premoni life. That waswhyhe wasdriven and sense of urgency aboutallhe wanted ir relationship tapered off by the fall

A Regula of 1984, when Egan made it clear t think of getting married. Shordy after that, just as the turmo build at Apple in early 1985, Jobs he stopped at the office of a guy w Foundation, which helped get comp Sitting in his office was a lithe, ver hippie aura of natural purity withth consultant. Her name was Tina Re woman I'd ever seen,\"Jobs recalled. He called her the next day and that she was living with aboyfriend. walk to a nearby park and again ask her boyfriend that she wanted to go After dinner she started to crybecau be disrupted. And it was. Within a theunfurnished mansion inWoodsid truly in love with,\" Jobs later said. \"W don'tknow that anyone will ever und Redse came from a troubled fam own pain about being put up for ad from our childhood,\" Redse recalle misfits, which is why we belonged passionate and prone to public disp sessions in the NeXT lobby are we too were their fights, which occurre ofvisitors toWoodside. Yet heconsta ralness. As thewell-grounded Joanna cussing Jobs's infatuation with the o tendency to look at vulnerabilities a spiritual attributes.\" When he was being eased out a with him in Europe, where he was sa bridge over the Seine one evening, th

ar Guy 263 that she was still far too young to oil with Sculley was beginning to was heading to a meeting when who was working with the Apple puters to nonprofit organizations. ry blond woman who combined a he solid sensibilities of a computer edse. \"She was the most beautifid asked her to dinner. She said no, . A few days later he took heron a ked her out, and this time she told o. She was very honest and open. use she knew herlifewas about to a few months she had moved into de. \"She was the first person I was We had avery deep connection. I derstand me better than she did.\" mily, and Jobs shared with her his doption. \"We were both wounded ed. \"He said to me that we were d together.\" They were physically plays of affection; their make-out ell remembered by employees. So ed at movie theaters and in front tandy praised her purity and natu a Hoffman pointed outwhen dis otherworldly Redse, \"Steve had a and neuroses and turn them into at Apple in 1985, Redse traveled salving his wounds. Standing on a heybandied about the idea, more

264 Walter romantic than serious, of just stayin perhaps indefinitely. Redse was eag burned but still ambitious. \"I am a r She recalled their Paris moment in twenty-five years later, after they h tained their spiritualconnection: We were on a bridge in Paris in th We leaned against the smooth ston rolling on below. Your world hadcl rearrange itselfaround whatever yo from what had come before. I trie life with me in Paris, to shed our f course through us. I wanted us to your broken world and emerge, an where I could cook you simple dinn day, like children playing a sweet g itself. I like to think you consider \"What could I do? IVe made mysel in that moment's hesitation before lived thatsimple life together allthe a brood of grandchildren around u quiedy going about our days, warm bread, our small worldfilled with th The relationship lurched up an living in his sparsely furnished Wo young couple, who hadonce worke and vegetarian cooks, and they m would occasionally move outto an especially after one of her torrenti a form of abuse,\" she once scrawle bedroom. She was entranced by h uncaring he could be. She would l was to be in love with someone so