Steve Jobs admired Zuckerberg too much to compete with him

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg

(Credit: James Martin/CNET)

Remember when Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs said he admired Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg? That's apparently what Jobs told biographer Walter Isaacson before he died. Well, it turns out Jobs' statements of respect for Zuckerberg weren't just mere rhetoric.

Jobs' appreciation for Zuckerberg was echoed once again today by Isaacson. He was speaking with Washington Post Company Chairman and CEO Donald Graham, who also happens to be a Facebook board member. Business Insider has the quotes:

"Jobs meant an enormous amount to the education of Mark," Graham told Isaacson. "Mark will talk about that until the cows come home." "I once asked Jobs who [he] admired in the Valley," Isaacson responded. "Mark's was the first name on his lips." The author then noted that "Steve never cracked the code on social -- maybe a few people in the room remember Ping." Isaacson asked Jobs why he didn't try again. His answer: "Maybe because Mark did it so well. There's not a need for a whole lot of social networks and Facebook has got it licked."

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