http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/02/steve-jobs-fbi-file/

FBI File on Steve Jobs Notes Use of LSD, Dishonesty


    By Kim Zetter
    Email Author
    February 9, 2012 |
    11:26 am |
    Categories: Apple

Follow @KimZetter

Notes from an FBI special agent investigating a bomb-threat extortion
attempt against Steve Jobs in 1985.

The government released Steve Jobs’ FBI file Thursday, including
details of a background check done for a presidential appointment in
1991 and a bomb threat against him in 1985.

The background check for an appointment to the president’s Export
Council, under former President George H. W. Bush, included interviews
with friends and colleagues to make sure there was nothing in Jobs’
background that would open him to blackmail.

One interviewee remarked on Jobs’ well-known drug use — which
included, by his own admission, the use of LSD during his schooldays.

Others mentioned that Jobs couldn’t be trusted and that he was able to
create a reality-distortion field.

“Several individuals questioned Mr. Jobs’ honesty stating that Mr.
Jobs will twist the truth and distort reality in order to achieve his
goals,” the report notes.

Despite reservations about his personal integrity, the interviewees
all said there was no reason Jobs should not be given the presidential
appointment to the Export Council, which he subsequently received.

Information about Jobs’ personality issues has been previously
reported in the recent biography of Jobs by writer Walter Isaacson,
and in other profiles of the tech luminary, but the 20-year-old FBI
documents provide an early view of how his ambition and personal style
affected those around him and later come to define the story of his
life.

The 191-page FBI file (.pdf), which was released following a Freedom
of Information Act request by Wired and other media outlets, is marked
“Presidential Expedite,” and was initially marked “Secret,” but that
has since been crossed out.

At the time of the background check, Jobs was president of Next, as
well as CEO and chairman of Pixar. He owned an apartment in New York
City in Central Park West and two homes in Woodside and Palo Alto,
California and was preparing to marry Laurene Powell.

More than 29 people were interviewed, including colleagues, neighbors
and acquaintances, whose names are redacted in the document. Although
several Apple employees appear to have been interviewed, the report
notes that “the Apple Computer Company has been less than cooperative,
in terms of providing assistance as requested of the Legal
Department.”

Individuals interviewed by the FBI commented on Jobs’ past drug use
and were united in their positive view of his contributions to the
tech industry, but were divided in their view of him personally.

One said he was a demanding employer but “treated people fairly and
was considerate of others problems and needs,” while another noted
that he could be abrasive and dismissive.

Some noted that while his ambition produced great success, it also
caused him to lose sight of integrity and noted that he had a tendency
toward dishonesty when it came to getting what he wanted.

And yet even those who found fault with him personally recommended he
receive the presidential appointment. One person indicated that
although Jobs was dishonest, he did not think that honesty and
integrity were required qualities for a high-level political position
and therefore recommended Jobs “for a position of trust and confidence
with the Government.”

One former colleague indicated that although Jobs was “not an engineer
in the real sense, he understands base technology and technical jargon
to the extent that he is an innovative force within the technical
community, in terms of the contributions he has made.”

Two others highlighted his knowledge of Asian cultures, which
contributed to his success and would aid him in his position on the
Export Council, noting that he “understood the Japanese culture and
had a great deal of contact in dealing with companies in the Orient.”

Although Jobs told the FBI he had been fired from Apple, former
employees told the FBI that Jobs was not fired but had resigned. Job
was, in fact, relieved by Apple’s board of any operational role in May
1985 and resigned as chairman in September of that year.

Interviewing Jobs for the background check proved to be difficult for
the FBI, who was told by Jobs’ secretary that he was unavailable for
three week and that Jobs “could not even see [Special Agent]
[redacted] for one hour.”

In addition to the background check, the FBI file contains details of
a bomb threat made to Jobs on February 7, 1985. The caller, who used a
pay-phone in the parking garage of the San Francisco airport, said
there were three bombs in Jobs’ residence and wanted $1 million in
unmarked, un-dyed bills. The man wanted the money handed over to him
on a BART train, and claimed that a fourth explosive would go off if
police were notified.

Jobs didn’t believe the caller and notified the FBI, which dusted the
pay-phone for latent prints and searched both Apple and Jobs’
residence for bombs.

Included among the documents for the background check is a disclosure
form from Jobs listing several legal actions against him. They include
the 1985 Apple suit against him for alleged breach of fiduciary duties
and misappropriation of trade secrets – stemming from accusations that
he took proprietary information and key technical personnel with him
when he and Apple parted ways. The suit was dismissed in 1986.

Jobs also listed a 1985 suit for wrongful discharge, which was filed
by an unnamed female employee who had quit Apple to take a job with
Next under the impression that it would be a long-term position. Jobs
won the suit.

Another suit involved a 1984 SEC filing against Jobs for possible
violation that at the time was still pending.

A class-action lawsuit, not listed by Jobs but discussed by the FBI,
was filed in 1984 by shareholders and was slated to begin April 22,
1991. The lawsuit revolved around issues pertaining to the Lisa
computer and concerns by shareholders that it was not marketed
correctly, actions that they alleged caused them and the company
losses.

-- 
-Laye
==============================
"With fair speech thou might have thy will,
With it thou might thy self spoil."
--The R.M

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