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morgante

Yuck. The idolization of assholes in our industry continues.

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> What more could you ask for? The international asshole

> Who complains about what he is owed?

> And throw a tantrum like he is 3 years old

> You gotta love it though somebody still speaks from his soul

unlike Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison ..

i'm actually struggling to think of an idolized figure in tech who isn't an "asshole".

edit: put "asshole" in quotes, which gets my point across better

Unless you know these people personally, you don't really know what they're like. I know Mark isn't though.

I know them as much as the comment above me knows Kanye. Being an asshole is a public persona, and each of those people has been called or referred to as an asshole.

edit: and there are plenty of anecdotal "Kanye is a nice guy when you meet him" stories as well. Evel Knievel sued Kanye and described him as 'vulgar an offensive', after they met he said "I thought he was a wonderful guy and a gentleman":

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2007-11-27-ka...

Laughing at 'Bill Gates is an asshole.' I've heard this anecdotally about everyone on your list, but not about him. People malign Microsoft and Windows, but please show me anecdotes about Gates the person being an asshole.

You haven't been around the tech scene long have you? Gates has a well-known reputation within MS as ruthless, snarky, and yes an asshole at times. See the numerous references to his (famous if only anecdotal) refrains when unsatisfied with someone else's work.

Also read Paul Allen's book -- specifically the part where Gates tried to screw Paul by diluting his stock.

Here is Spolsky's take on what Bill Gates was like to work for:

http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2006/06/16.html

Certainly feared to some extent.

Bill Gates does not come across as an asshole at all in that article.

Throughout the netscape vs IE era, Gates was considered a ruthless businessman internationally. The situation is 10 years old and fading, but asshole was definitely a predominant take on Gates for a long time

Kanye at the next startup school, so we can rule him out too? :)

I respect you a lot and you sure have more information than most of us. But Mr. Zuckerberg called "dumb fucks" users who gave him personal information. I do not know him personally, but with that one in mind and the privacy issues of Facebook, I find it hard to see how he isn't.

He was showing off/joking. If every undergrad who has said something like that is an asshole, then pretty much everyone is.

i'm actually struggling to think of an idolized figure in tech who isn't an "asshole"

Maybe not as idolized as Jobs/Gates/Zuck, but there are non-asshole public figures in tech, such as Woz, Tim O'Reilly, Matt Mullenweg, Joel Spolsky. Being abrasive isn't a prerequisite to success.

Not sure whether you meant to agree with me or not, but that's precisely my point. Only now we're even appropriating assholes from other industries.

Also, I doubt all these tech figures are actually assholes. Arguably they're forced to adopt those personas publicly by an industry which demands it.

Woz would be a huge example. Also do you know any of these people personally?

"Unless you know Kanye personally, you don't really know what they're like."

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