Bill Gates describes ‘growing up’ with Steve Jobs, emotional last visit

Most would think that Bill Gates and Steve Jobs had a bitter relationship until the end. But that just isn’t true, as the Microsoft founder tells 60 minutes, during an interview in which he describes his last visit to the late Apple co-founder.

Gates grew emotional talking about his last visit with Jobs before his death. According to the personal computing billionaire, the visit ended on a “forward-looking” note.

“He showed me the boat he was working on, and talked about how he’s looking forward to being on it, even though we both knew there was a good chance that wouldn’t happen,” said Gates.

The stories of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates may well have been tethered to one another. Both pioneered the idea of personal computing at a time when it seemed impossible. Though most people would regard Apple as the maverick company, both companies (Apple and Microsoft) were at the beginning the “crazy ones” innovating in an area that seemed far-fetched.

Gates points this out in his interview, commenting that he and Jobs “in a sense, grew up together”. “We were within a year of the same age, and we were kind of naively optimistic and built big companies. And every fantasy we had about creating products and learning new things — we achieved all of it. And most of it as rivals. But we always retained a certain respect and communication, including even when he was sick.”

Hat Tip: CBS News