Steve Jobs, the innovative co-founder and former CEO of Apple, died Wednesday at the age of 56 after suffering a years-long and highly public battle with cancer and other health issues.
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Steve Jobs
Widely regarded as one of the greatest American CEOs of his generation, Jobs gave the world the iPod and the iPhone, among other popular devices. Be it for his innovation or leadership abilities, Jobs was often the topic of discussion on CNBC's "Fast Money." With his passing, the "Fast Money" traders shared their thoughts and memories of the late American titan.
Karen Finerman, president of Metropolitan Capital
"I think that every great businessman, every visionary, every value creator is not finished with his/her task until he creates an organization that can run without him," Finerman said. "When the organization is infused with a culture of never-ending improvement down to the lowest level employee then the job is done. Walt Disney did it, Ford did it, Sam Walton did it, Bill Gates did it, and so, too has Steve Jobs. Apple can survive and flourish without him.
Joe Terranova, chief market strategist of Virtus Investment Partners
"How ironic to express my deep sympathy on Steve Jobs passing 35,000 ft above America, fully connected wi-fi using my iPad," Terranova tweeted. "Thank you, Steve."
Brian Kelly, co-founder of Shelter Harbor Capital
"The passing of Steve Jobs is a loss for humanity. He embodied the American dream, where else can someone with a vision and work ethic rise from relative obscurity to become an integral part of the social fabric," Kelly said. "His accomplishments and contributions should be a reminder that America is still that shining city on a hill."
Douglas Kass, founder and president of Seabreeze Capital
"His legacy is that Apple is built to last with almost $80 billion of cash. It is an insurance policy for the company to maintain its future market share leadership," Kass said. "No other competitor is anywhere close to being as well positioned over the next decade."
Stephen L. Weiss, co-founder of Short Hills Capital
"In my view the most complete CEO in history. Every move he made was in the interest of the company and shareholders. He had the vision, the ability to execute, to recruit, recognize and cultivate talent executives," Weiss said. "The true testament to Steve Jobs is the culture he built from top to bottom, from the salespeople in the retail stores to Tim Cook. I vividly recall him coming back to the company and rescuing it from a slow but sure decline into irrelevance."
Jon Najarian, co-founder of optionMONSTER.com
"Some people get concepts faster than others. We've all been in a math class, ski school, yoga class and seen someone get it faster than us. It can be frustrating at times, but it can also be AMAZING to watch someone else get it," Najarian said. "Steven Jobs got it, and what he created was nothing short of incredible.
"Artists, creative agencies, and musicians were among the first to get Apple's Macs. They took insults from the rest of the world for their choice of computer, but they got it and couldn't understand why the rest of the world didn't.
"As Steven Jobs returned to Apple in the mid-1990s, he continued to innovate, and more and more people began to get it. When people began to migrate from cassette tapes to digital music, Steven Jobs brought them the iPod. More people began to get it.
"As more people began to get it, Steven Jobs once again got it himself. He realized that as more and more people converted to Apple devotees, more and more people couldn't wait to be told what they wanted next.
"People didn't know they wanted a touchscreen computer in their hand that connected to the web and, by the way, made phone calls too. But when Steven Jobs held the first iPhone up at one of his legendary conferences in 2007, they begged for it.
"Steven Jobs became the recognized expert in creating buzz, and ultimately demand, for his Next Big Thing. He did that in the other company he created as well, quite literally, when Pixar created Buzz Lightyear. There, once again, Steven Jobs told the world what it wanted--in this case, full-length digitally animated feature films.
"Up until the very end of his life, Steven Jobs continued to get it. And even after his passing, the world will continue to get it as well, thanks to his enduring legacy.
"To infinity and beyond."
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