Kevin O'Leary Says Steve Jobs Was 'Very Unpopular' And A 'Really Nasty Guy' — But Elon Musk? 'There's Never Been A Man Like Him'
Kevin O'Leary isn't shy with opinions. But during a debate last week hosted on Anthony Scaramucci's YouTube channel, the "Shark Tank" star revealed something unexpected: a brutal but respectful comparison between Steve Jobs and Elon Musk — and why he believes there's never been anyone quite like Musk.
The debate, posted last week as part of Scaramucci's series "Open Book," featured a wide-ranging conversation covering President Donald Trump, crypto, Canada, and whether investors should side with Sam Altman or Musk. But when asked about the two AI titans, O'Leary didn't go with either. Instead, he took a hard left — straight into Apple territory.
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"I worked for Steve Jobs," O'Leary said, after noting that his son Trevor works for Musk at Tesla and adding, "we love Elon." He described Jobs as "about 80% signal, 10% noise... not easy to work with, very unpopular, really nasty guy, but he really got it.
Then came the pivot.
"Elon has no noise. He's 100% signal," O'Leary continued. "He wastes zero time in his day. He can't. He'll walk away from a conversation with you if he's wasting time. He has zero time to waste. There's never been a man like him."
The comparison wasn't meant as an insult to Jobs — far from it. O'Leary has long acknowledged how difficult Jobs was behind closed doors, but he's also made it clear that he admired him deeply.
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In a Facebook post from last year, O'Leary reflected on working for the Apple co-founder. "What was it like working for Steve Jobs? It was BRUTAL! He was NOT a nice guy," he wrote. Attached was a clip of O'Leary candidly recalling how Jobs would "walk into a room and absolutely berate everybody in there." Despite that, O'Leary wrote, "I admired him for his steel vision and getting where he needed to go. He didn't let people get in the way."
That track record — brilliance bordering on brutality — has been echoed in stories from those who knew Jobs personally. In her 2018 memoir "Small Fry," daughter Lisa Brennan-Jobs shared her account of growing up with him, including claims that he refused to install heat in her bedroom and once told her she would receive no inheritance.
The takeaway, at least for O'Leary, seems to be that greatness often comes with difficult personalities — but in Musk's case, the delivery is different. Jobs may have berated people to get results, but Musk, he implies, simply doesn't waste time on anything — or anyone — that slows him down.Still, it's Musk who now holds O'Leary's admiration — and not just because of his son's connection to Tesla. O'Leary pointed to Musk's relentless work ethic, efficiency, and boldness as traits that separate him from everyone else. "Thank goodness he's doing Doge right now," O'Leary said, half-jokingly. "He's going to save a sh*tload of money. That's great."
As usual, Mr. Wonderful didn't hold back — and in doing so, he gave a brutally honest glimpse into the world of billionaires who play by a different set of rules, whether they're launching rockets or yelling in conference rooms.
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