WEALTH

The Not So Surprising Last Words of a Billionaire: Steve Jobs

What reaching the pinnacle of success and getting rich truly means

Many times in life, I have often wondered what it must be like to want for nothing financially, as I imagine many people have pondered the same thought.

Have you thought about this at any time in your life?

Do these thoughts usually come with thoughts about the richest people you can think of and imagining their lifestyles, based on what you see in the media?

That old saying, “money can’t buy happiness”, certainly seems to contradict the way I feel at times. It seems to me that money can buy a whole lot of happiness!

While thinking about wealth and riches today, Steve Jobs came to my mind. And I decided to refresh my memory of just how rich he was and looked up some information on him.

I already knew that he was a billionaire with a net worth of over $10.2B.

But, some interesting and odd things about him that I did not know are that he didn’t give money to charity, he purchased Pixar from The Walt Disney Company in 1986 for $10M and sold it back to them in 2006 for $7.4B (which means most of his fortune did not come from Apple), his annual salary was only $1, and he is buried in an unmarked grave.

But what really struck me in my search was coming across what the Internet says about what Steve said on his death bed, as follows.

“I reached the pinnacle of success in the business world. In others’ eyes, my life is an epitome of success. However, aside from work, I have little joy. In the end, wealth is only a fact of life that I am accustomed to.

At this moment, lying on the sick bed and recalling my whole life, I realize that all the recognition and the wealth that I took so much pride in, have paled and become meaningless in the face of impending death.”

This is fake news!

When I saw this, I was tempted to believe it but something told me to look a little further and I found that these were not the last words of Steve Jobs.

Steve’s sister, whom he met late in life, confirmed his last words in her eulogy of her famous brother.

He did not speak of his riches and denouncing having been wealthy. He did not say that he had not been happy. He did not talk about success and the business world and his pride.

According to his sister, surrounded by his family, Steve’s last words were simply:

“Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow.”

This made me ponder more thoughts about wealth.

There, was a man of great wealth and importance but his life and death carried the same weight as it would have without the wealth.

What does this mean?

To me, it means that wealth is more than money. The greatest riches of all are health and time — two things many of us take for granted.

I am wealthy.

In everything that money can’t buy, I am wealthy. And you know what else I am? — Grateful.

Let not material possessions or the want thereof blind you from why you’re truly wealthy with health, family, friends, peace, and time. This is success.

The other side

It is believed by some that when people are close to death, they can see beyond this realm before they cross over.

I remember when death was closing in on my dad, he was looking into the distance towards the ceiling and he was talking to someone saying, “Yes. Ok. I know.”

Perhaps Steve saw something amazing right before he died, something that “wowed” him.

Pinnacle of Success

So what is the height of success? According to Steve’s sister, it is what Steve achieved. She said, “Death didn’t happen to Steve, he achieved it.”

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Audrey Malone is a freelance writer, professional resume writer, and editor, including editor for Medium publication, ILLUMINATION’S MIRROR.

She’s also the owner and founder of ExpertResumeWritingServices.com.

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