News & Resources

Details of Steve Jobs background check revealed

Feb 16, 2012 Matt Roesly

Details of Steve Jobs background check revealed
An FBI file released by the U.S. government under a Freedom of Information Act request detailed a background check performed on Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, ABC News reports.
 The check was conducted ahead of a potential appointment to former President George H.W. Bush's Export Council, and needed to be completed to ensure there was nothing in Jobs' background that would leave him susceptible to blackmail, according to Wired magazine. Two main points of interest found in the verified check involved a bomb threat against him in 1985 and his use of LSD during his college years. At least 30 people - including colleagues, neighbors and acquaintances - were questioned, a few of whom brought up some issues about his personality. "Several individuals questioned Mr. Jobs' honesty stating that Mr. Jobs will twist the truth and distort reality in order to achieve his goals," the report notes, as quoted by the news source. At the time of the screening, Jobs had resigned from Apple and was working as CEO and chairman of Pixar. The document mentions a bomb threat made against Jobs on February 7, 1985, from a caller using a pay phone in a San Francisco airport parking garage. He asked for $1 million, saying that three bombs were placed in Jobs' home and would go off if police were notified.