Steve Jobs changed the world. That alone is enough for him to be called a legend.

That being said, I have always firmly believed that being nice to people is an important virtue.

It's not that Steve Jobs became rude to people overnight. He was an aggressive go-getter right from day 1, when Apple Inc. used to functioned out of Job's father's garage. Also, most Silicon Valley/Seattle legends are known to be aggressive. Elon Musk. Jeff Bezos. Travis Kalanick. Jack Dorsey. All known to be very very demanding.

Now, are these guys assholes? Well, there are certain lines you shouldn't cross in life. From whatever I've read about Jobs and Bezos, I believe that they're assholes in terms of how they treated some of their employees.

So, do I respect them? I respect them for their good parts. I absolutely do not respect them for their bad parts.

I think asshole in this context is quite harsh. All the interviews I've watched; all the articles I've read; he wanted the best for his company, his customers via his products and he wanted to push people to do their best work. Being difficult to work with, being pushed to to do your best work should NOT be misconstrued as being an asshole.

There are multiple accounts, including the recently published interview with Scott Forstall that he was a very carrying and generous person.

The respect he earned was for leading a company that produced great products and brought a company back from near bankruptcy to one of the biggest in the world. Not because people thought he was an asshole.