When Lisa Brennan-Jobs, the once-disowned daughter of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, released her memoir Small fry In 2018, the world saw a very different side of Jobs from the refined visionary known for revolutionizing modern technology.
In a revealing excerpt published by Vanity Fair, Lisa described a childhood plagued by fear and rejection shaped by a father who repeatedly refused to acknowledge her as his daughter.
Denied at birth: “I’m infertile,” Jobs told the court
In 1978, when his then-girlfriend Chrisann Brennan became pregnant, 23-year-old Steve Jobs refused to marry her or accept the child. Although he co-founded Apple and quickly achieved success, he left mother and daughter living in poverty.
Incredibly, Lisa writes that Steve Jobs even testified in court that he was sterile, insisting that he couldn’t have children.
Yet, in 1991, Steve Jobs married Laurene Powell and had three more children, contradicting his previous claims.
It was only after a DNA test proved his paternity that he began providing financial support to Lisa.
“I was a stain on his image”
In her memoir, Lisa reflects: “For him I was like a flaw, something that didn’t correspond to the noble and virtuous image he wanted. My existence ruined the vision he had of himself.”
Although Jobs occasionally visited, their relationship remained strained. In 1983, Apple released its first GUI-based computer called LISA. Jobs denied any connection at the time, claiming that the name stood for “Local Integrated Software Architecture.”
Lisa recalls: “I wasn’t interested in computers, but I loved the idea of being connected to my father through that name.”
Years later, during a visit to Bono’s house, the U2 frontman asked Jobs directly if the computer was named after Lisa. Jobs hesitated, then finally nodded.
Lisa remembers whispering to Bono: “It’s the first time he’s admitted it.”
A brilliant and brutal father at the same time
Lisa feared that readers would only see the cruel version of Jobs from selected excerpts of the memoirs. He recounted harsh memories:
- Jobs banned her from seeing her mother for six months
- He refused to give her money, despite his enormous wealth
- He left his room without heating
- He once told her that she would receive nothing from her fortune
According to Business Insider, the memoirs confirmed what many already suspected: Jobs’ genius corresponded to a cutting harshness even towards his own daughter.
Yet Lisa insists the book is not intended as revenge. He points out that while Jobs could be cold, he also had charming, elegant, and warm moments.
Redemption: apology and final gift
In an interview with the New York Times, Lisa revealed that her father apologized to her in the final days before his death: “He said he was sorry for abandoning me and not being there while I was growing up.”
Despite once rejecting her emotionally and financially, Steve Jobs made a surprising final gesture: he left Lisa a substantial inheritance in his will, a symbolic act of belated reconciliation.
Steve Jobs’ widow, Laurene Powell Jobs, released a public response to the memoir: “Lisa is part of our family. We were saddened to read what was written in the book.”
He added: “Steve loved Lisa and regretted not being the father he should have been. We were grateful he spent his final years with her as a family.”
Steve Jobs remains a towering figure who changed the world, reviving Apple, saving thousands of jobs, and reshaping modern technology. But Small fry reminds readers that even geniuses carry flaws and unresolved wounds.
Lisa Brennan-Jobs, whose very name became part of Apple’s history, ultimately found peace by facing the painful truths many had never known.
Sources: Business Insider, The Guardian, Vanity Fair
