Why was Steve Jobs such an a***hole?

Steve Jobs was said to have driven many employees to tears. Source: Supplied

THE late Steve Jobs was notorious for being a prickly sort of fellow.

Yes, he was the driving force behind innovations that changed the world — someone, somewhere has surely touted him as a mini-Henry Ford. Comparisons to Thomas Edison are probably a tad hyperbolic.

But he was also, by all accounts, a bit (or a lot) of a d**k.

He was known for tearing people down in front of a whole crowd, for driving others to tears and for a generally gruff demeanour. Many wondered if underneath his genius lurked a sociopath or, at least, a megalomaniac.

Here are just some of the examples of Steve Jobs being mean:

-He once fired a whole bunch of people at Pixar without any notice. When another employee said people should be given two-weeks' notice, he reportedly replied: "Okay, but the notice is retroactive from two weeks ago".

Genius but gruff. Source: Supplied

-When its Mobile Me product tanked, he gathered the team in the Apple auditorium and asked them, "why the f**k doesn't it [do what it's supposed to do]?". He then fired the MobileMe boss on the spot, in front of everyone. Classy.

-He denied paternity of his daughter for many years, forcing her and her mother to live off welfare.

-He eliminated all philanthropy and charity programs at Apple when he took the reins back in 1997. Those programs were only reinstated after his death by successor Tim Cook.

The Atlantic's Tom McNichol said 'Bad Steve' was "petulant, rude, spiteful, and controlling, a man who thought nothing of humiliating employees, hogging the credit for work he hadn't done, throwing tantrums when he didn't get his way, or parking his Mercedes in handicapped spots."

What a charmer.

This week, Jony Ive, Apple design honcho and friend of Jobs, explained in a New Yorker profile what was behind the late acerbic tech guru's seemingly bad behaviour.

Sir Jonathan "Jony" Ive is senior vice president of design at Apple. Source: Supplied

Years ago, Mr Ive told the New Yorker, he saw Jobs crush a colleague in that Jobsian way so Mr Ive protested about the treatment.

But Jobs shot back, "Why would you want to be vague? You don't care about how they feel? You're being vain, you want them to like you." Jobs had argued that not giving clear and direct feedback was in itself a selfish move on the part of the person giving the criticism.

So there you have it. Steve Jobs was an a***hole because he wanted to be selfless.