Steve Jobs gave the best performance by a CEO in half a century, according to longtime pal turned fierce rival, Google chairman Eric Schmidt.
Schmidt also led Google as chief executive as both companies enjoyed a meteoric rise to become the world's most revered companies during the noughties.
He thinks that Jobs' ability to build Apple into a force not one, but twice was was made him so special.
In a conversation with Salesforce CEO Mark Benioff, Schmidt reportedly said: "Steve Jobs gave the best performance by a CEO in 50 years, maybe 100 years. He not only built Apple once, but twice."
Jobs stepped down as Apple CEO last week to become chairman. Schmidt did the same in January this year.
Furious row
Steve and Eric were once thought to be close friends, but revelations of Google's plans to enter the smartphone market allegedly resulted in a furious row between the two.
Legend has it that El Jobs had shared his iPhone plans with Schmidt and felt betrayed when he heard Google was thinking of launching the eco-system which eventually became Android.
"Steve was very, very upset," Schmidt reportedly told a colleague following a phonecall from Jobs. "My God, he was so angry." Their relationship never recovered.
Perhaps Schmidt's latest praise is an attempt from Schmidt to bury the hatchet as both men enter the new stage of their careers as chairman of their respective tech superpowers?
Link: TechCrunch
