avatarBrett Anderson - I do writing and business stuff

Summary

The article compares the public perception of Steve Jobs and Elon Musk, suggesting that the primary difference in how they are viewed stems from Musk's recent shift from Democratic to Republican political affiliations.

Abstract

The article delves into the striking similarities between Steve Jobs and Elon Musk in terms of their leadership styles, technological mastery, and the impact they've had on their employees and the tech industry. It posits that despite these similarities, the public's view of Musk has become increasingly negative due to his political pivot, which contrasts with the largely positive legacy of Jobs. The author explores the idea that if Jobs had been known to support conservative politics, his reputation might have been more contentious. The article also touches on the role of autism in both men's lives and questions whether the criticism Musk faces is truly about his actions or more about his political stance.

Opinions

  • The author believes that Steve Jobs and Elon Musk share many personality traits and leadership approaches, which have been perceived differently due to political bias.
  • The article suggests that the negative sentiment towards Elon Musk is largely politically motivated, stemming from his announcement that he would vote Republican.
  • It is implied that if Steve Jobs had been openly conservative, his legacy might be viewed more critically, similar to the current perception of Elon Musk.
  • The author points out that Elon Musk's past actions, such as cutting staff in his companies, have been politicized only after his political stance became known.
  • The author argues that the hatred towards Musk is disproportionate and that political affiliation should not overshadow one's contributions to technology and society.
  • Walter Isaacson's insights are used to reinforce the notion that Musk and Jobs are comparable in many ways, including their technological vision and complex personalities.
  • The article encourages readers to look beyond politics when assessing the character and achievements of influential figures like Musk and Jobs.

Why Does Everyone That Loved Steve Jobs Hate Elon Musk?

One’s dead. One’s alive. Everything else about them is the same.

Can’t read the story because you’re not a member of Medium just yet? Read it here.

“You had to prove yourself every day, or […] got rid of you.”

“There’s […]; the tantrums; the hours-long, dictator-like speeches; the famous, desperate, and transparent hogging of credit; and always the charismatic-leader complex […], through which he has been able to seduce and, subsequently, abandon so many of the people he’s worked with.”

“It wasn’t easy to work for him; it was sometimes unpleasant and always scary, but it drove many of us to do the finest work of our careers.”

“He may be as troubled and unsocialized […] a figure in American business life as anyone since Howard Hughes.”

“Because he has that insight […]. And you’re like, how did [he] even know that? [He’s] absolutely right. And it’s not even blowing smoke. Normally, he has some sort of weird insight where he just knows.”

All of the quotes above are real.

They’re from former business partners and former employees.

But which quotes do you think are about Steve Jobs, and which ones about Elon Musk?

Would you be surprised if I told you they are from people who worked closely with Steve Jobs? Every one of them.

When you look into the lives of Steve Jobs and Elon Musk, you can see they share the same temperament, mastery of technology, leadership style, and track record of success.

They’re the same guy.

Steve Jobs passed in 2011. In addition to that there’s only one difference between the two.

Can you guess what it is?

Image created by author using AI

Writing my previous story about Elon Musk was a blast.

I had a lot of fun writing it. Maybe too much! I may have gone a bit crazy while writing it.

Seriously.

The 7 days spent researching and writing had me talking to myself. That’s not unusual — but supplying both sides of the conversation — that is.

I pushed myself way too hard.

Normally, I don’t write about politics or technology. After publishing it, I figured it would be months before I wrote another story about Elon Musk, technology, or space travel.

If you haven’t read my first story, you can check it out here. Seven Disturbing Things I Learned About Elon Musk in the Past 7 Days.

It’s a deep dive into Musk's personality, prowess with technology, political views, and what he thinks about the future of humanity.

I think you’ll enjoy it. FYI, I intentionally kept politics out of that one.

During the conversations stemming from the story, something interesting happened.

They kept reminding me of Steve Jobs.

No one said his name or even alluded to him. But some comments aimed at Musk made me think of Steve Jobs.

And it kept happening. It brought one question to mind.

Why do so many people say Steve Jobs was flawed but say Elon Musk is evil?

Think about where the quotes above came from. Not from strangers or people only listening to the headlines.

The statements came from those who knew Steve Jobs intimately.

And they sound just like statements from those closest to Elon Musk.

Even the famous journalist Walter Isaacson stated many things about Elon Musk remind him of Steve Jobs. And he spent a great deal of time with both men. If anyone knows, it’s him.

I’ve always loved stories about the future, technology, politics, and extraordinary personalities.

These are two of the most intriguing men of our lifetime.

What do you think?

Beyond their lives, technologies, and political leanings, what makes them so fascinating is how people view them so differently.

I’ve spent upwards of 190 hours digging into their lives. I’ve listened to podcasts, read articles, read biographies, watched YouTube videos, and read newspaper articles.

I looked at:

  • how they ran their companies
  • how they thought about the future and technology
  • their accomplishments
  • what their former business partners say about them
  • what their former employees say about them
  • what the public says about them
  • their political leanings

Former employees say similar things about them. Their business partners and family members say similar things about them.

Their minds for technology and career accomplishments say similar things about them.

Why don’t we?

Similarities between the two men

These are their (mostly) negative traits as described by those closest to them:

  • Alienated themselves
  • Alienated their employees
  • Spoke unkind or harsh words to partners, employees, engineers, and customers
  • Pushed to release some technologies on rushed or unrealistic timelines
  • Fired some employees who stood up to them
  • Respected all employees who stood up to them

Reread the list above and tell me what you see.

They are the same guy.

Autism was also a factor for both of them.

While Steve Jobs was never officially diagnosed as having autism, the consensus of those closest to him — and smart doctor types — is that he did.

Elon Musk is officially autistic.

So, if all their characteristics are similar, why do so many people love Steve Jobs and hate Elon Musk?

I’m about to show you. There is one big difference that forces people to view them differently.

And I have proof.

Image created by author using AI

Whenever I talk to someone who has it out for Elon, the first evidence against him is his handling of X.

Why is that?

People also bash him about Tesla and SpaceX, but 9 times out of 10 it’s how he destroyed the future of Twitter. According to some, it’s all but dead.

It’s not true.

Maybe it’s because it’s his most recent technology acquisition, but I don’t think so.

I believe it’s something else.

And this is the moment when all hell breaks loose…

The reason so many hate Elon Musk is that he has pivoted from a loyal Democrat to a reluctant Republican. It is 100% politically motivated.

And a lot of Democrats have lost their minds.

Maybe I should say liberals but I’m trying not to be too offensive.

It’s not that he’s changed his politics and became a conservative. He says he had no choice. He had to move away from the party of “division & hate.”

Last May, Musk revealed that he has a long history of voting Democrat and has never voted for a Republican.

Here is how he described himself, “I would classify myself as a moderate, neither Republican or Democrat. In fact, I have voted overwhelmingly for Democrats historically. Overwhelmingly. I might never have voted Republican. Now, this election? I will.”

He’s a Democrat at heart that feels like his party abandoned him.

Do some (deep) digging and you’ll see he’s not alone. So why do his critics so quickly dismiss him as a fascist?

Or a Neo-Nazi supporter.

Or terrorist.

Did he become a far-right overlord overnight?

Sure, some people criticized him before he took over Twitter, but not like they do now. It’s not about how he acquires companies, technologies, or his vision for the future.

This is different.

Before X, the negative headlines about Musk were few and far between. He was still a bit obscure.

Much of America knew him as a multi-millionaire businessman leading technology giants Tesla and SpaceX. He had a love for electric cars and rockets.

That was about all that known about him at the time.

Politics was not in the picture.

I could be wrong. But I don’t think I am.

Image courtesy X, 2022

What would people say about Steve Jobs if he had publicly come-out as a conservative before he died?

What if everyone knew he voted for John McCain in 2008 instead of Barrack Obama?

Would they look at him the same? Would you?

I don’t think the conversation would be the same at all.

Following his death in 2011, there was speculation that Jobs was a conservative.

But there’s no debate. It’s fake news. (I couldn’t help myself).

It stems from two events: conservative icon Rush Limbaugh stating what a great guy he was, and his criticisms of Obama-era policies.

October 6, 2011, on Rush Limbaugh’s daily radio show — a day after Jobs died — Limbaugh mentioned, “Steve Jobs epitomized American exceptionalism” and dedicated the entire show to him.

Do you see any patterns yet?

As for his criticisms of President Obama — “You’re headed for a one-term presidency," he told him when they met in the fall of 2010. Jobs explained that he wasn’t happy with the regulations and unnecessary costs of building factories in the United States as opposed to building in China.

He was also unhappy with the crippling effect teachers unions were having on American education.

But they were just criticisms. Nothing more.

He didn’t suddenly change political parties to become a Republican.

Author Walter Isaacson revealed in his biography “Steve Jobs,” that the former Apple CEO offered to design political ads for Obama’s reelection campaign. He did the same in 2008.

You don’t do that if you plan to vote for the other guy in the near future.

And that’s the key.

Elon Musk voted for Obama — twice. People didn’t hate Musk back in 2008. Or 2012.

He didn’t vote for Trump in 2016 or 2020. They didn’t hate him then.

So when exactly did Elon flip the switch from good to evil?

People were ok with him — and his politics in 2021. They didn’t know much about him, or they were indifferent. Either way, there wasn’t rampant hatred for the man like there is now (and will continue in the future).

So why has there been so much in the past two years?

Did Musk become evil when he announced his plan to take over Twitter? Nope. Maybe it was the day he carried in the sink? Nope. (That was the day he revealed his odd sense of humor).

Do you see how none of this makes sense?

  • His personality didn’t change.
  • His leadership style didn’t change.
  • His political thoughts didn’t change
  • His dreams and motivations didn’t change.

There’s only one explanation.

If Elon Musk was planning to pull the lever for the Democrats in November— and he hadn’t adjusted the rules on X — he’d still be an obscure billionaire. The political world would be indifferent to him.

But the conversation would be much different.

Some will point to his firings at Twitter as proof of his evil. I wrote in my last article that he slashed up Twitter with a serial killers blade.

And he did.

But he’s aggressively cut staff many times before in multiple companies. That’s the reason I used the serial killer metaphor. If you do even the lightest amount of digging, you’ll see it’s nothing new.

The only difference from previous slashings was that it was politicized.

He adjusted the future vision for X. And made it known he would be voting for a Republican for the first time.

There’s only one conclusion.

The rage against Elon Musk began the day he made it known he wouldn’t support the (current) Democrat party. And that was too much for them!

So the official answer is, Elon Musk became evil at 2:44 PM — May 18, 2022.

Honestly, I don’t care which side of the aisle you’re on.

I don’t care if you’re a Democrat. I don’t care if you’re a Republican. And I don’t care if you’re somewhere in between.

And you shouldn’t either.

Don’t worry about anyone else. Vote your heart.

That’s my (unspoken) point in this article.

While I’m not writing this article to create anger and division, I’m confident that is what’s about to happen.

But as I said before, that’s ok.

Everyone should be able to voice their opinion — political or otherwise — without being mocked or harassed.

Read that again.

Before I wrap it up, I want to shed some light on one more aha thought. One that reinforces my point about what’s going on.

And it’s this.

Elon Musk didn’t come out and say he would vote independently.

He said he would be voting Republican. And that means Donald Trump… unless he’s disqualified before November.

Let that sink in for a minute.

For the record — at the time Elon said it, he was thinking about supporting Ron DeSantis (long before DeSantis suspended his campaign).

I don’t know how he feels about Trump.

But think about this.

Do you think the same number of people would hate Elon Musk if he said he planned to vote independent in future elections?

Maybe he should. These days you can do worse.

A final thought.

How do you think people would react if Elon Musk said he wasn’t going to vote at all in 2024?

I don’t think we’d be having the same conversation.

A recap of their differences

A list of their similarities would be far too long.

  • Steve Jobs was a Democrat
  • Elon Musk was a Democrat
  • Elon Musk made it known he will vote Republican in 2024

The conclusion with a couple of thoughts

I realize some of the wrath reserved for Elon Musk may be headed my way in the immediate future.

I’m ok with that. I didn’t write this article to make friends. I had to write this story because I think it’s an intriguing idea.

I hope to hear great opinions from all sides of the conversation.

I believe Steve Jobs and Elon Musk are both tech geniuses, had great vision for the future, and both have dark and disturbing personalities (at times).

If you think it’s worth talking politics, jump into the conversation. Let me know what I got right and what I didn’t.

Although I didn’t set out to write political stories, I love to write stories that showcase big personalities. And big issues.

And with Eon Musk, you can’t have one without the other.

Politics aside — Steve Jobs and Elon Musk are two of the most brilliant tech minds and personalities of the 21st century.

I have a feeling there’s more to say about them in the future.

Thank you for reading until the end! — Brett

I hope to receive your feedback and encourage you to check out my other stories.

Grab your FREE copy of my NEW mini-course — 3 Simple Steps to Write Great Headlines & Hooks

References:

Steve Jobs
Elon Musk
Ideas
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