Elon Musk sent the internet buzzing when he reshared a 1995 interview clip of Steve Jobs, the late Apple co-founder, with a single word: “Precisely.” The video, viewed over 46 million times, captured Jobs stressing that a great idea is just the starting point—execution and teamwork make the magic happen. Musk’s endorsement sparked a wave of online chatter, reigniting fascination with how two tech titans, separated by time, share a relentless obsession with building products that delight.
Steve Jobs revolutionized the world through Apple’s iPhone, iPad, and Mac, fusing technology and art into products which became cultural icons. His dreams turned Apple into the most valuable company on earth, having a market capitalization exceeding $2 trillion. Elon Musk, on his part, transformed industries through Tesla’s electric cars, SpaceX’s rockets, and xAI’s artificial intelligence breakthroughs. They are both hailed as visionaries—tough, bold, and never afraid to break the mold—whose legacies leave an unmistakable impact on the way we live our lives through technology.
Musk has long admired Jobs’ “ultra-product-focused” mindset, praising his knack for sweating the small stuff.
“He and the other people at Apple would really try hard to have, both at a high level and a small level, these delightful things happen,”
Musk once said, highlighting how Jobs’ products, from the iPhone’s smooth curves to the Mac’s intuitive interface, sparked joy. In the 1995 clip, Jobs described execution as “99% teamwork,” a view Musk echoed, noting that discovery and problem-solving are where true value lies.
Jobs and Musk share a philosophy: products should be more than functional—they should feel magical. Apple’s sleek designs and buttery-smooth animations set a gold standard, while Tesla’s minimalist dashboards and playful software “Easter eggs” aim to surprise and delight drivers. SpaceX’s reusable Falcon rockets, engineered with precision, reflect Musk’s commitment to craftsmanship. Both leaders believed that tiny details—a button’s click, a screen’s glow—could elevate a product from good to unforgettable.
Jobs was a conductor, orchestrating teams to realize his aesthetic vision, often with a sharp tongue. His biographer, Walter Isaacson, described him as a perfectionist who could inspire and intimidate. Musk, by contrast, is a hands-on engineer, diving into factory floors and codebases. Isaacson noted Musk’s “dark streak” of blunt feedback, mirroring Jobs’ intensity but grounded in a nuts-and-bolts approach. While Jobs chased elegance, Musk wrestles with the chaos of manufacturing and innovation at scale.
Musk’s April 2024 post wasn’t just a nod to Jobs—it was a cultural moment. Tech enthusiasts and entrepreneurs flooded X with praise, marveling at how Jobs’ ideas still resonate. Media outlets dissected the clip, drawing parallels between the two moguls. The video’s massive reach underscored a hunger for insights from tech’s golden era, with many seeing Musk as Jobs’ spiritual successor, carrying the torch of product-first thinking into new frontiers like AI and space.
Musk’s admiration for Jobs isn’t without tension. He’s taken swipes at Apple, calling it the “Tesla Graveyard” for hiring ex-Tesla employees and criticizing its App Store as a “global tax.” Musk also once recounted a frosty meeting with Jobs, calling him “kind of a jerk.” Yet, these barbs don’t dim his respect for Jobs’ genius. Both men shared abrasive edges—Jobs’ temper was legendary, and Musk’s polarizing persona stirs debate—but their flaws fueled their ability to bend industries to their will.
