Born in the year 1955, both Steve Jobs and Bill Gates will be counted among the pioneers of the personnel computer and information technology revolutions in human history. In careers overlapping over 30 years and as business leaders of rival companies, Gates and Jobs never quite got along but calling them enemies would be an overstatement. They began their acquaintance as cautious allies, were bitter rivals’ at the most competitive phases of their career and seemed a lot more friend-like as they matured into global icons.

In the early years of business in the late 1970s, when Apple and Microsoft were in their formative years, there was no rivalry between Gates and Jobs. Microsoft made software early on for the mega-popular Apple II PC and Bill would often fly down to Cupertino to see what Apple was working on.

A simplistic way of looking at the two companies (at least till Jobs and Gates were in charge) would be that Apple made hardware products and started making exclusive software for the products while Microsoft made just software that would run on hardware made by other companies, including Apple in the early days. Apple was in the business of making computers (or hardware) and Microsoft was into making programming languages initially and then operating systems (or software). Essentially they were in different businesses but that would change when Apple would come up with its own OS and Microsoft’s OS would help other computer manufacturers to challenge Apple manufactured computers.

In the success of Microsoft, Bill Gates may be analyzed as an astute and shrewd businessman with ability to make quick and effective decisions. Examples include his deal with IBM and the launch of Windows and Windows 95. His leadership is more inclusive and he was willing to go through the process and be patient. He understood the nuances of business and was willing to adjust and adapt in order to succeed. Gates was far from spectacular and perhaps even boring, but he was meticulous, open, simple, practical and reliable. Where most would have thought of hardware (machine), Gates made operating systems among other software (or the fuel for the machine) and licensed his software to all computer makers. Thus various PC vendors at various price points used his OS and software making him the youngest self-made billionaire in the world at the time and the richest man in the world a few years later. Bill had a dream to impact the world by bringing the PC on every desk in every household and he gained significant traction and success since his early years.

Steve Jobs, on the other hand, wanted to change the world through remarkable products and that is what he did with Mackintosh, iMac, iPod and the iPhone. Steve was more autocratic in his leadership and liked to be in total control. The companies he led were largely driven by his ambition and personality. Jobs’s philosophy was of controlling the entire user experience from top to bottom. He was perceived as harsh, cocky, closed and demanding to work with. He had a creative design mind-set and would go to great lengths to bring his design ideas to life. He was motivated to make an impact on the world and knew the importance of risk taking, making him one of the biggest risk taking business leaders of modern times. He was a great motivational speaker with the ability to inspire and get people interested in something. Steve Jobs, the leader, will be remembered for his remarkable turnaround of Apple and the phenomenal cultural impact of his innovative designs on the modern world.