Steve Jobs was a man who commanded respect as an innovator but was questioned on his honesty and morality, according to his FBI file, which has been released recently.
Steve Jobs’ file was prepared on the Apple founder as he was considered for a presidential appointment in 1991 during George H. W. Bush’s time in office.
His file also revealed that Steve Jobs had been the victim of an extortive bomb threat in 1985.
Documents note, too, his conversion to Buddhism and admissions of drug use.
Steve Jobs’ file has been made public on Thursday through freedom of information laws, and posted to the FBI’s website.
“Several individuals questioned Mr. Jobs’ honesty stating that Mr. Jobs will twist the truth and distort reality in order to achieve his goals,” said a summary of the FBI background check.
A former business associate who blamed Steve Jobs because he had not received lucrative stock he thought was due to him characterized the Apple founder as an “honest and trustworthy individual; however, his moral character is questionable”.
Others told the interviewer that Steve Jobs was difficult to work with, no surprise given details of his volatile temperament that emerged in his biography last year.
The unfavorable comments gleaned during the background check did not prevent Steve Jobs being appointed to an unpaid post advising the president on export policy.
Steve Jobs died in October last year after a years-long struggle with cancer.
The interviewees’ names have been redacted by the FBI, with the exception of Steve Jobs himself.
Steve Jobs admitted to experimenting with drugs, including LSD, in the ‘70’s.
Another interviewee spoke of Steve Jobs’ high-profile reputation within Silicon Valley.
Steve Jobs was “not an engineer in the real sense”, the source says, but “an innovative force within the technical community”.
