My suspicion is that it's nearly impossible to find anybody with the kind of business success Jobs had that ISN'T a dick at least a good chunk of the time.

Gates was famously so, at least when he was leading MSFT. Ballmer, moreso. Ellison is a well known asshole. Etc.

It's especially true of founders, I reckon, because through grit and luck they find themselves atop a large heap of money and power, and it's very easy to forget how much of their success was due to luck -- and very easy to believe that it was all due to how exceptional and smart and visionary they were, or whatever.

So, yeah, probably a dick. Probably not somebody with a lot of close friends. I mean, would YOU be friends with a guy who was denying his own child like that?

Sadly, your suspicion seems to be supported by even more anecdotal evidence.

From the Economist: "While [Elon Musk danced] with his first wife on their wedding day, he told her, “I am the alpha in this relationship.” [1]

[1] https://www.economist.com/business-books-quarterly/2015/07/0...

Being a dick in a professional setting is quite different from being it in a personal setting. I think it is okay to be ruthless in business, on the other hand, with your own daughter, that is something different.

I scarcely imagine that a temperate man shows up to work and dials up the asshole to be successful, then dials it back down when he gets home. Moreso, I would imagine your personality follows you where you go, and sometimes by coincidence your personality is good for business.

From what I’ve read, and even the biography, he was a dick pretty much all the time. But the brilliance that was (rightly or wrongly, I pass no judgement other than I lean towards the former) assigned to him meant people ignored it for the most part. Fascinating really.