October 6, 2011

Steve Jobs Biological Father Has No Comment On Son’s Death

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs died on October 5. I was unaware that he was adopted. His biological father, 80-year-old John Jandali of Reno, NV, had no comment on his son’s death, according to a story in the Reno Gazette Journal.

Jandali told Frank X. Mullen Jr. that he would not be doing interviews about the death of his biological son, whom he and his wife gave up for adoption in 1955.

“I really don’t have anything to say. I know (Jobs is dead),” Jandali said, according to Mullen’s story on RGJ.com.

It seems that Jandali never met his famous son.

Jandali, now a casino executive in Reno according to RGJ.com, told London newspaper The Sun in August of 2011 that he regretted giving his son up for adoption. He also said the following about reaching out to the man who helped create the Macintosh, the iPod, the iPhone, and the iPad: “Steve will have to do that as the Syrian pride in me does not want him ever to think I am after his fortune. I am not. I have my own money. What I don’t have is my son … and that saddens me.” In September he said he regretted doing an interview with The Sun.

Upon learning that the Apple co-founder was suffering from cancer, Jandali sent his own medical history to Jobs, according to published reports.

According to Jobs’ obituary in the New York Times, Jobs did have a relationship with his biological mother, Joanne Carole Schieble, and his biological sister, Mona Simpson. Mona was born Mona Jandali in 1957, two years after Jobs. Her parents got divorced a few years later; she changed her last name to Simpson when her mom remarried. She is the author of the novel A Regular Guy, which features a character supposedly based on her brother. The Times’ obit says that the character is “not an entirely flattering portrait,” adding that “Mr. Jobs said about a quarter of it was accurate.”

According to the web site AllAboutSteveJobs.com, Paul and Clara Jobs were initially rejected as potential parents for the infant who would grow up to become Steve because they did not attend college. Joanne relented when Paul and Clara promised that Steve would go to college. Ironically, he dropped out, but I think we can all agree that things worked out pretty well on that front.

Note: we did our best to fact-check this post; if you have any corrections, let us know in the comments.

Links of interest:

Steve Jobs & Mona Simpson: A Story Too Good Not to Tell by Eric Rumsey (much more detail about Mona Simpson and Steve Jobs)

Steve Jobs’ biological father, who lives in Reno, declines to comment on estranged son’s death by Frank X. Mullen Jr., RGJ.com [via ibtimes.com]

A Regular Guy by Mona Simpson on Amazon.com

Steve Jobs Obituary in the New York Times (worth reading in full, very interesting) by John Markoff


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