Eric Schmidt is known for building up one of the greatest American tech companies — Google. But the tech icon also has brushed elbows for years with Steve Jobs after sitting on the board of Apple after the start of the Apple Stores. Schmidt joined CNBC in a one-on-one interview at the New York Stock Exchange in remembrance of Jobs.
Schmidt outlined the achievements of Jobs to the tech industry.
“He founded Apple, drove it to greatness the first time. Went off to find NeXT and Pixar at the same time, came back to Apple and in this extraordinary difficult hand played into the greatest American corporation at the moment,” he said.
“I think for all of us it’s just extremely sad for this loss of this tremendous inspirational leader.”
Leadership The Jobs Way
Schmidt pointed out the reason why Jobs came to be a true tech legend. “He sweated the details. That’s what it takes to be a great leader.”
Throughout the years, Schmidt told how passionate the Apple front man was in his views on how to run the company along with innovation. “He convinced me that I was completely wrong” in some instances. He would “run back out of meetings and continue to argue to show how right he was,” Schmidt said. “He pushed people very hard.”
Four Horsemen of Technology
In the tech arena, Schmidt has identified four companies that he views as the leaders in the industry. Schmidt calls them the “Four Horsemen of Technology.”
He said they are Apple, Amazon , Facebook and Google . “Each company has a platform that’s creating wealth and value. ...We’ve never seen four companies having the platform plays at the scale that we are seeing with these four.”
What’s Next For Apple?
Schmidt says "the company is in very fine hands" with Tim Cook. "You will see strong execution from Apple."
Donna Burton contributed to the article.
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