Here's How Bill Gates And Steve Jobs Went From Best Friends To Bitter Rivals

It might come as little surprise that some of the wealthiest people in the world have brushed shoulders throughout the years. After all, they often spend their time socializing in the same circles and working together to change the world - or outdo the competition.

Whatever the case, it seems that things aren't always friendly behind closed doors. In fact, two on the list have more history than many people realize. They might have been from rival companies, but there was once a time this pair were closer than ever. Here's how Bill Gates and Steve Jobs went from best friends to bitter rivals.

Bill Gates and Steve Jobs founded similar companies

Bill Gates and Steve Jobs might have been destined to be bitter rivals from the start as they both wanted to dominate the world of technology - and founded similar companies just one year apart. Gates launched Microsoft in April 1975, while Jobs founded Apple in April 1976.

They used to work together

Believe it or not, but Steve Jobs wanted to use Microsoft's computer software, so the pair met in the '70s and '80s to talk about making something special. In the end, Gates created Excel, Word, and BASIC to try and get the company off the ground, but their friendship wouldn't last for long.

Bill Gates didn't like Jobs or Apple

Bill Gates and Steve Jobs continued to work together, but that didn't mean Gates was impressed with his new business partner. Apparently, he thought Jobs had over-hyped Apple's graphics and capabilities and wasn't pleased with how Apple's founder treated him during their first Californian meeting.

Steve Jobs thought Gates was stealing his ideas

It turns out the meeting was enough to see Steve Jobs start to panic, as he believed that Bill Gates wanted nothing more than to steal Macintosh's ideas for himself. He thought Gates wanted the graphics interface, even though Gates claimed he was working with IBM and had no interest in his rival's projects.

Bill Gates and Steve Jobs fell out after Windows was released

Things took an even worse turn for Steve Jobs and Bill Gates as soon as Windows hit the market in 1985. Jobs started to publicly accuse Gates of stealing his company's ideas, stating, "Gates has no shame." Bill's response? He said that Jobs “really has entered into one of his own reality distortion fields.”

Microsoft continued to take over the world

It looked as though Gates and Jobs would never learn to work through their differences as Microsoft instantly took over the world. Jobs left Apple, and Gates was raking in some huge bucks. The pair continued to take jabs at each other in the press, with both of them highlighting how they were very different people.

Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were always critical of each other

Although many years had passed, it seemed that Bill Gates and Steve Jobs were determined to be critical of each other until Jobs lost his life. Jobs would often call Microsoft "almost irrelevant," especially after Apple flooded the market with smartphones, iPods, and iTunes. Amazingly, Gates later changed his tune and would often talk highly of Apple and Jobs' ideas.

Learning how Bill Gates and Steve Jobs went from best friends to bitter rivals shows that a lot more went on behind the scenes than we ever learned about in the headlines.