There are multiple ways to be a jerk. Clearly Gates succeeded and Ballmer failed. The Gates went on to stop being a jerk.

It would be nice to see some example of a Jerk and non-Jerk attempting the same strategy.

Jerks and non-jerks have different approaches to building enterprises. Jerks often rule through intimidation and fear. Non-jerks build loyalty through other mechanisms.

The thing is both methods, if applied consistently, produce results. The trouble is the jerk method is a lot less efficient in terms of use of human emotional capital.

Not brilliant. He was simply in the right place at the right time.