Steve Jobs once gifted a secretary a Jaguar for being late, recalls ex-Apple executive: 'Don't be late'

Steve Jobs famously believed in working only with the best.

Steve Jobs, the visionary co-founder of Apple Inc., was often known as much for his demanding leadership style as for his moments of unexpected generosity. One such instance — dating back to the early 1980s — resurfaced through an anecdote shared by Ron Givens, Apple’s Director of Quality from 1981 to 1986. In a 2011 interview with WRAL, Givens recalled the surprising gesture Jobs extended to a secretary who had arrived late for work.

According to Givens, the young CEO, then just 26-years-old, noticed a secretary entering the office late and immediately enquired about the delay. “She explained her car had broken down,” said Givens. “That afternoon, he walks into her office, tosses a set of keys to a brand-new Jaguar and says, ‘Here, don't be late anymore.’”

At the time, a Jaguar XJ was priced at around $35,000 — equivalent to approximately $123,000 today, when adjusted for inflation. The gesture, Givens noted, perfectly illustrated what he described as the “paradox” of Steve Jobs. “He could motivate you out of your socks,” he said. “He could intimidate you, he could inspire you.”

Jobs' leadership style was frequently described as intense and unrelenting, but equally capable of galvanising those around him. He was notorious for pacing the corridors at Apple headquarters, probing engineers on design minutiae one moment and delivering extravagant, unexplained gifts the next. Givens, who was around 20 years Jobs’ senior at the time, recalled another memorable moment when he was handed a $1,000 Steuben-glass apple by Jobs — with no context or explanation.

Jobs famously believed in working only with the best. “We hire people who want to make the best things in the world,” he once said, and he consistently advocated for building teams with "only A players." He admitted that terminating employees who did not meet expectations was “very painful,” but also “necessary.”

Former Pixar chief creative officer Pete Docter — who worked with Jobs after he acquired the animation studio in 1986 — recently shed further light on Jobs’ relentless drive. Speaking at Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies Gala, as cited by CNBC, Docter recalled how Jobs would make contact at any time of day or night.

“He would phone colleagues at three in the morning,” Docter revealed. “You're on vacation, doesn’t matter. He wants to talk to you about it, you’re on.”

The Pixar executive, who directed acclaimed films such as Up and Inside Out, admitted that Jobs’ habit had a lasting impact. “I sometimes send late-night emails myself,” Docter said, before conceding, “That’s what my wife’s trying to get me to stop doing.”