FBI on Steve Jobs: 'Not totally honest', 'distorts reality'

A prospective government job, a bomb threat and a supposed tendency to distort reality were among the findings of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on the late Apple Inc. co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs.

 

In its 191-page file on Jobs, the FBI revealed lively details about Jobs' personal life and professional past, based on accounts by his colleagues, neighbors and friends.

 

While the document confirms much of what is already known about Jobs - including drug use and an intense managerial style that created friction with colleagues - it also gives a glimpse into his relationship with the government, according to The Huffington Post.

 

Citing supposedly authentic FBI documents, The Huffington Post said Jobs was given top-secret clearance between 1988 and 1990 and was being considered by the Bush administration for a position on the president's Export Council.

 

"Much of the file consists of the 1991 background check the FBI performed in light of this prospective appointment," it said.

 

Memos and handwritten notes also provide clues into a $1-million bomb threat Apple on Feb. 7, 1985, several months before Apple fired Jobs.

 

An FBI memo on the threat suggested a male caller made a series of telephone calls to Apple computer Inc. and advised that "devices" had been placed in homes of some individuals.

 

But the FBI noted its probe of the areas targeted by the individual who made the bomb threat turned up no unusual activity.

 

The Huffington Post also said at least 29 people were interviewed for the FBI's background check. While their names were redacted, there are clues hinting at their identities.

 

Still, most of the friends and colleagues interviewed by the FBI had high praise for Jobs and recommended him for a position in the government.

 

Jobs associates with an "eclectic group of people, most of whom are famous," noted one interviewee, while another endorsed Jobs as someone who "will make a positive contribution on the National scene."

 

Another person said he lives a "spartanlike and at times even monastic existence," and one pointed out that he "liked brainstorming and was good at mediating."

 

FBI notes from one interview said an acquaintance of Jobs' said he "had undergone a change in philosophy by participating in Eastern and/or Indian mysticism and religion."

 

Criticism from colleagues

 

The Huffington Post also said several people - including one man who said he felt "bitter" toward Jobs because the CEO's actions had prevented him from getting stock - scored Jobs' demeanor and questioned his technical skills.

 

One of those interviewed by the FBI said that while Jobs is basically an honest and trustworthy person, "he is a very complex individual and his moral character is suspect."

 

Another said Jobs was "not totally forthright and honest," and as someone who "has a tendency to distort reality in order to achieve his goals."

 

The FBI's notes also quoted another individual as saying he/she "believed the appointee has what it takes to assume a high level political position within the government, which in his opinion, honesty and integrity are not prerequisites to assume such a position."

 

Several also cast doubt on Jobs' technical qualifications.

 

One described him as "technically oriented but [...] in the opinion of many, not an engineer," and another commented he was not "a deeply technical individual." — TJD, GMA News