Multi-Billionaire and founder of Microsoft Bill Gates appeared on “60 Minutes” Sunday and gave the world a side of him that is rarely seen. In the interview, host Charlie Rose and Gates discussed the late Steve Jobs—innovator and co-founder of Apple Inc.
Gates offered high praise to his former competitor and even got a bit emotional as he recalled visiting Jobs in the hospital before his death, according to CBS News. Gates remembered their last conversation as “forward-looking.”
"He showed me the boat he was working on," he said. "[He] 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."
Gates went on to acknowledge that he and jobs were similar in many ways.
"He and I, in a sense, grew up together," he explained. "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."
Gates even gave Jobs huge credit on the creation of the iPad—saying Jobs “put the pieces together” when it came to tablets—even though just a week ago he was giving the device significant criticism, according to CNET.com.
"His sense of design, that everything had to fit a certain aesthetic,” Gates said as he continued to praise Jobs. “The fact that he, with as little engineering background as he had, it shows that design can lead you in a good direction. And so phenomenal products came out of it."
In one of the last stories Gates tells, he jokes about a response Jobs gave to a dinner invitation from the former Microsoft chief executive officer. At the time of the invitation Jobs had already begun to fall ill, therefore he wasn’t able to attend, according to ComputerWorld.com.
“If he wants to know why,” Jobs said, “just tell him I’m an a******.”
