Steve Jobs was one of those personalities that marked a before and after in today’s culture. A little over 10 years ago now, surely his name would continue to make headlines as he continues to do.
However, from his heritage outside of technology, Jobs’s profile tends to relate more to his spiritual and creative side than to his branch as a great businessman. And Jobs had a particular view on business and money. So much so that he said that money was the most valuable thing except for one thing, and as long as being rich “doesn’t ruin you.”
Jobs, who at the age of 25 already had a fortune valued at $100 million from the success of Apple, appreciated being rich for the power it gave him to try some things, but what he did not believe was that wealth was a substitute for intelligence or success.
As Jobs himself said:
When I was 25, my net worth was $100 million or so. I decided then that I was not going to let it ruin my life. There’s no way to spend it all, and I don’t see wealth as something that validates my intelligence.
My favorite things in life don’t cost money.
Surely money is important. Money does many things; one of the most important is to create options. But after a certain point, money doesn’t make people happier.
Jobs’ vision of his fortune and what he decided for his children
Jobs’ view that money was important, but did not ensure happiness, is supported by some studies that, with , under an average income of $75,000 (in the case of the United States), money does not buy more (or less). ) happiness.
In another Jobs said:
So yes, money is important. (During the times in my life when I didn’t have it, money was especially important.) But once you reach a certain level of financial success, shift your attention at least slightly away from money. Your work is going to take up a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you think is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.
For Jobs, making a living doing what he loved was more important than being rich doing it, as long as it allowed him to live well.
Before his death, the former Apple CEO amassed a multimillion-dollar estate that he left to his wife Laurene Powell-Jobs, a fortune that his children will not inherit in full.
In a 2020 interview with the New York Times, Powell-Jobs said that she and her late husband do not believe in “inherited wealth building” and that their children are aware of it.
“I inherited my wealth from my husband, who didn’t care about accumulating wealth,” she said.
Since the death of her husband, Powell-Jobs founded the hybrid investment, social impact and philanthropy company Emerson Collective in 2004. This “social change organization” focuses its work on education, immigration and social justice and has also funded several startups.
As for his children, Lisa Brennan-Jobs, Steve’s first daughter, and to whom the Apple Lisa computer owes its name, revealed that she and her brothers did receive a million-dollar inheritance from their father. However, she does not participate in the distribution of the rest of his estate. If she were, she would donate it all to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, she told The New York Times in 2018.
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