A history of the feud between Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, whose love-hate relationship spurred the success of Microsoft and Apple

Gates clearly admired Jobs, even if they didn’t always see eye-to-eye.

When Apple introduced iTunes, Gates sent an internal email to Microsoft that said, “Steve Jobs’ ability to focus in on a few things that count, get people who get user interface right, and market things as revolutionary are amazing things.”

When Apple introduced the iPod in 2001, Gates sent another email: “I think we need some plan to prove that, even though Jobs has us a bit flat footed again, we can move quick and both match and do stuff better.”

Gates has also said before that he envied that Jobs was a “natural” when it came to commanding an audience.

“It was always fun to watch him rehearse because part of his genius was, when he would finally do it, he would make it look like he’s just thinking it up right there,” he told Dax Shepard on the Armchair Expert podcast. “I’ll never achieve that level.”

“He was such a wizard at over-motivating people — I was a minor wizard so I couldn’t fall under his spells — but I could see him casting the spells, and then I would look at people and see them mesmerized,” Gates continued in the podcast. “I was so jealous.”