That term "sociopath" gets thrown around a lot, but it's so far off base, real sociopaths are starting to feel sorry for Steve Jobs.
As revealed recently, he denied Tim Cook's offer of a partial liver transplant. Something that can only be explained with empathy, a lack of which is the primary indication of what's called "sociopathy".
To name just a few more of the signs of sociopath that Steve Jobs didn't fit: inability to plan ahead, lower intelligence, delinquency, violence, financial irresponsibility,...
Basically, what people mean is "he could, at times, be a bit of an asshole". I'm not even sure about your assertion about risk-taking because I can't think of any events that deviate significantly from the risk-taking of similar companies.
It's also hard to say how much his "being an asshole" contributed to Apple's success. Getting people to work 80+ may be a strategy to lower costs, but I don't see how it helps, for example, with the iPhone, created at a time where money wasn't the limiting factor at Apple.
He chose homeopathic remedies when first diagnosed with cancer rather than the known and proven effective treatments.
By the time he realized it wasn't a joke the effective treatments were too late.
He used his wealth and influence to get on organ transplant lists in numerous states. At the time doctors were publicly confused because the organ could no longer save his life, only extend it. This action likely cost another person their life.
With his final days he designed and built a super-expensive yacht...
Steve Jobs may not have been sociopathic but he wasn't someone that cared about the well-being of others. He was the first member in the cult of his own ego.
> He chose homeopathic remedies when first diagnosed with cancer rather than the known and proven effective treatments.
That strikes me as stupid / naïve more than sociopathic.
> He used his wealth and influence to get on organ transplant lists in numerous states. At the time doctors were publicly confused because the organ could no longer save his life, only extend it. This action likely cost another person their life.
That's selfish, true, but I could see myself doing something similar when faced with the fear of death. It's human. Not admirable, but human.
> Steve Jobs may not have been sociopathic but he wasn't someone that cared about the well-being of others. He was the first member in the cult of his own ego.
I'm not sure he was introspective enough to be a member of the cult of his own ego, but yeah, he wasn't a nice man. No argument there.
> I'm not sure he was introspective enough to be a member of the cult of his own ego
I'm not sure that I agree. I think he was very introspective but, because of being put for adoption and other traumatic experiences in his childhood, he focused on things that are atypical (hence the accusations of sociopathy).
> inability to plan ahead, lower intelligence, delinquency, violence, financial irresponsibility
These are not traits of (all) sociopaths. A highly functional sociopath could be defined as:
"People with sociopath traits that also happen to have a very high intelligence quotient. They are likely to be highly successful in the field they endeavor (politics, business, etc.). They plan very meticulously and the presence of sociopathic traits like lack of empathy, lack of remorse, deceptiveness, shallow emotions, etc. makes it very difficult for "normal" people to compete with them."
As revealed recently, he denied Tim Cook's offer of a partial liver transplant. Something that can only be explained with empathy, a lack of which is the primary indication of what's called "sociopathy".
To name just a few more of the signs of sociopath that Steve Jobs didn't fit: inability to plan ahead, lower intelligence, delinquency, violence, financial irresponsibility,...
Basically, what people mean is "he could, at times, be a bit of an asshole". I'm not even sure about your assertion about risk-taking because I can't think of any events that deviate significantly from the risk-taking of similar companies.
It's also hard to say how much his "being an asshole" contributed to Apple's success. Getting people to work 80+ may be a strategy to lower costs, but I don't see how it helps, for example, with the iPhone, created at a time where money wasn't the limiting factor at Apple.