"Surprisingly, there is one thing that Mr. Jobs is not, at least not yet: a prominent philanthropist"
Historical
analysis upholds that Jobs' demonstrated philanthropic efforts are weak.
Contrary to that, one of Jobs’ close friends Bono, has defended Jobs saying
that he had been thinking about donating to (Product) RED, which is an organization
trying to end AIDS.
"For one of the nation’s most famous billionaires, Steve Jobs kept a low profile as a charitable donor. Unlike fellow tech leaders Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, he did not sign the Giving Pledge, the effort under which the nation’s richest individuals commit to giving at least half their wealth to philanthropy. His name is absent from the list of gifts of $1 million or more maintained by Indiana University’s Center on Philanthropy."
"Mr. Jobs’ views on charity are unclear since he rarely talks about it. But in 1997, when Mr. Jobs returned to Apple, he closed the company’s philanthropic programs. At the time, he said he wanted to restore the company’s profitability. Despite the company’s $14 billion in profits last year and its $76 billion cash pile today, the giving programs have never been reinstated."
“Jobs is also among the most controversial figures in business. He oozes smug superiority, lacing his public comments with ridicule of Apple's rivals, which he casts as mediocre, evil, and--worst of all--lacking taste. No CEO is more willful, or more brazen, at making his own rules, in ways both good and bad. And no CEO is more personally identified with--and controlling of--the day-to-day affairs of his business. Even now, Jobs views himself less as a mogul than as an artist, Apple's creator-in-chief. He has listed himself as "co-inventor" on 103 separate Apple patents, everything from the user interface for the iPod to the support system for the glass staircase used in Apple's dazzling retail stores.” *
U2’s Bono Defends Jobs After Criticism About His Philanthropy
"Jobs said there was “nothing better than the chance to save lives,” when Bono approached him about a campaign to fight AIDS in Africa, according to a letter the singer wrote to the New York Times yesterday. Through the sale of red-colored products, Apple was (Product) RED’s largest contributor to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, giving tens of millions of dollars, Bono wrote.
'I’m proud to know him,” Bono wrote about Jobs. “He’s a poetic fellow, an artist and a businessman. Just because he’s been extremely busy doesn’t mean that he and his wife, Laurene, haven’t been thinking about these things.' "**
'I’m proud to know him,” Bono wrote about Jobs. “He’s a poetic fellow, an artist and a businessman. Just because he’s been extremely busy doesn’t mean that he and his wife, Laurene, haven’t been thinking about these things.' "**
*Sorking, Andrew Ross. "The Mystery of Steve Jobs’s Public Giving." The New York Times. N.p., 29 Aug. 2011
**Miyazaki, Makoto. "U2’s Bono Defends Jobs after Criticism about His Philanthropy." Bloomberg Business. N.p., 2 Sept. 2011
**Miyazaki, Makoto. "U2’s Bono Defends Jobs after Criticism about His Philanthropy." Bloomberg Business. N.p., 2 Sept. 2011