Global CEOs have always been known for their hard work & dedication. Their success stories are something that we get to read every now & then. But there are other stories as well, which are not particularly about their struggles. Today we bring you instances when the Global CEOs like Elon Musk & Jeff Bezos, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates & many others were caught in a feud.
1. Tim Cook and Mark Zuckerberg
In 2014, the feud between the two giants commenced shortly after when Cook said in an interview that “when an online service is free, you’re not the customer. You’re the product.”
The feud grew stronger after Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica scandal. In the scandal, private Facebook user data was stolen from 50 million users. In 2018, Recode’s Kara Swisher asked Cook what he would do if he was in Zuckerberg’s shoes, to which he responded: “What would I do? I wouldn’t be in this situation.”
Zuckerberg was reportedly so incensed by Cook’s comments that he asked executives to switch to Android phones.
2. Steve Jobs and Bill Gates
It all started well between Microsoft & Apple, but gradually things became bitter among the two tech giants. It all started when Steve Jobs flew up to Washington to sell Gates on the possibility of making Microsoft software with its revolutionary graphical user interface in the early eighties.
Gates wasn’t particularly impressed with what he saw as a limited platform — or Jobs’ attitude. “It was kind of weird seduction visit where Steve was saying we don’t really need you and we’re doing this great thing, and it’s under the cover. He’s in his Steve Jobs sales mode, but kind of the sales mode that also says, ‘I don’t need you, but I might let you be involved,'” Gates later said.
Gates appeared alongside Jobs in a 1983 video — a “Dating Game” riff — screened for Apple employees ahead of the Macintosh’s launch.
Their relationship finally fell apart when Microsoft announced the first version of Windows in 1985. A furious Jobs accused Gates and Microsoft of ripping off the Macintosh. But Gates didn’t care — he knew that graphical interfaces would be big, and didn’t think Apple had the exclusive rights to the idea.
The duo traded barbs for years, with Jobs calling Gates boring and Gates calling Jobs “weirdly flawed as a human being”. Tensions remained high even after Microsoft invested in Apple to keep it afloat, with both Gates and Jobs insulting each other and their companies’ products time and time again.
3. Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey
In 2019, Dorsey announced that Twitter would no longer allow political advertising globally. That includes campaign ads from political candidates and issues-based ads on topics like climate change or abortion. The move came just weeks after Facebook said it would not block false political advertising, arguing that it would violate its mission to promote free speech, even paid free speech.
Dorsey’s Machiavellian move didn’t mention Facebook or Zuckerberg by name, but it was clear who he was calling out. And it comes as Dorsey has been ramping up his criticism of Zuckerberg and Facebook. (Just last week, Dorsey said, “Hell no,” when asked if Twitter would join the Facebook libra currency project, for example.)
Dorsey couldn’t have been more clear with his announcement: “If you want to run a massive, open social media platform, you don’t need to accept money to amplify a political message, especially false or misleading messages.”
4. Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos
In 2004, both SpaceX and Blue Origin were relatively young and neither had launched anything to space. The tiff started in 2013, over the historic launch complex 39A. After the Space Shuttles retired in 2011, NASA wasn’t using the launchpad. It opened it up for anyone who wanted to use it. SpaceX steps up to the plate and says we want that for our rockets. We’d like to use that as a point of operation. Right after that, Jeff Bezos steps in and says we want that pad too.
Bezos went so far as to file a complaint with the government to prevent SpaceX from getting the launch pad. Elon Musk gets really mad about this and says that’s a ‘phony, block tactic’ and that this is a bunch of BS.
5. Larry Ellison and Bill Gates
All might be well between Bill Gates & Larry Ellison today but it wasn’t this cordial always.
Their animosity partly stemmed from Ellison’s close friendship with Steve Jobs, a frequent opponent of Gates. But things took a more serious turn in 2000 when Microsoft was being investigated by the federal government over antitrust violations. At the time, several groups were openly supportive of Microsoft, and Ellison suspected they were being funded by Microsoft itself. He hired private investigators in an attempt to out Microsoft and help out the feds.
Eventually, Microsoft lost the suit, and Gates stepped down as Microsoft CEO.
