With the recent passing of Steve Jobs, it's hard to forget the incredible and amazing things he has given us. For about 30 years or so, Jobs has been in the public eye, with many anxiously wondering what was next from Apple, Pixar, NeXT, and others.

Steve Jobs, photo courtesy of Creative Commons.

Here are a few things that people may not know about his wonderful life:

1. He was adopted

Born Steven Paul on Feburary 24th, 1955 to Joanne Schieble and Abdulfattah Jandali, Jobs was given up for adoption to his adoptive parents, Paul and Clara Jobs. 

Eventually, Schieble and Jandali married and had another child, Mona, who Jobs kept in close contact with. In fact, Jobs has gone on record saying Mona is one of his “best friends in the world.” That being said, he always believed that his adoptive parents were his real parents.

2. He travelled to India in search of enlightenment

During his late teenage years, Jobs went on a trip to India in search of enlightenment by meeting Guru Neem Karoli Baba. Although the trip was considered a failure considering Neem Karoli Baba passed before Jobs could meet him, there were some positive outcomes.

Growing up, Jobs was very into the counterculture that was popular in the 60’s in San Francisco. Going to India reaffirmed his mindset on India. Beyond that, Jobs met Apple’s first employee, Dan Kottke, on this trip as well. While shopping, Jobs learned how to negotiate and bargain for the fair price of products as well. 

3. He was Vegetarian and a Buddhist

Upon news of his death, PETA issued a statement remembering his kindness to animals and vegetarianism. This shows that Jobs did care about the environment, and that was reflected by the environmentally friendly products that Apple made. 

Furthermore, Buddhism shaped Jobs’ life and explains many of his mantras of life. During his India trip, Jobs converted to Buddhism. Robert Thurman, Professor of Buddhist studies at Columbia University, believes that Jobs’ creativity and generosity stemmed from Buddhism. According to ABC News, many of Apple’s slogans through the years have been slight alterations of Buddhist mantras. 

4. He worked at Atari

After dropping out of college, Jobs went to work at Atari, helping create “Breakout.” This was also one of the first time Jobs and Steve Wozniak, Apple co-founder, worked together. Jobs’ collegue at Atari, Al Alcorn, also helped Jobs and Wozniak finish up the first Apple computer.

Rumor has it that Jobs told Wozniak that if they could create a game meeting specific hardware constraints, they would be awarded money. Jobs claimed that the sum was $700 to split evenly while the actual amount was closer to $5000. 

5. His salary was $1 per year

Since his return to Apple in 1998, Jobs was paying himself a measly $1 each year in salary. This does come with an asterisk though, since he owned approximately 5.5 million shares, valued at about $2 billion. 

Beyond his Apple shares, the company paid for Job’s private jet, totaling approximately $248,000, plus $1.1 million in expenses over 3 years. Jobs also held close to $4.5 billion in Disney shares after selling Pixar to Disney. Even though his salary was small, he was still considered to be one of the wealthiest people in America. 

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