Steve Jobs was Willing to Bankrupt Apple to Destroy Android, Biography Reveals

Posted 10/21/2011 at 8:26am | by Paul Lilly

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Excerpts from an upcoming biography of Steve Jobs written by Walter Isaacson are popping up all over the Web, and one of the more interesting tidbits sheds light on Apple's contempt for Android. It might also explain why Apple has been so aggressive in suing competitors entrenched in the Android ecosystem, a platform Jobs vowed to destroy at all costs.

"I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple's $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong," Jobs is quoted as saying in the biography, according to the Associated Press. "I'm going to destroy Android, because it's a stolen product. I'm willing to go thermonuclear war on this."

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt served as an Apple board member from 2006 to 2009. He resigned from the board when competition between Google and Apple started to heat up in the smartphone market, and based on comments in the biography, it appears Jobs held a high level of contempt for Schmidt and his company. Jobs reportedly went on an expletive-laced tirade, calling Google's actions "grand theft." He also made it clear to Schmidt in a meeting that he had no intention of settling Apple's lawsuit.

"I don't want your money. If you offer me $5 billion, I won't want it. I've got plenty of money. I want you to stop using our ideas in Android, that's all I want," Jobs said.

Android has gone on to challenge Apple for mobile supremacy and has grown in market share, but the fight lives on through lawsuit after lawsuit.

The biography, titled "Steve Jobs," is available for preorder now and will be published on October 24, 2011.