Bono: Steve Jobs is ‘Generous’ and ‘Poetic’

Steve Jobs isn't miserly, writes Bono. Instead, he's been invaluable in supporting efforts to fight AIDS and malaria in Africa, along with Apple.

In a letter to The New York Times, where the U2 star is also a contributor, Bono said when Jobs was first approached about (Product)RED and its role fighting disease, Jobs told him There is nothing better than the chance to save lives.

Subsequently, Jobs, 56, and his wife, Laurene, have been major supporters of Bono's Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Bono said.

The Times published a story Aug. 30 titled The Mystery of Jobs' Public Giving, which questioned why the Apple Chairman had apparently kept such a low profile on charitable giving in contrast to other technology bigwigs like Microsoft's Bill Gates, who bankrolled the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Jobs' personal wealth, based solely on his investments in Apple and Walt Disney Co., where he is the largest individual shareholder, exceeds $8 billion. It's not clear how much Jobs has sold over the years since co-founding Apple in 1976.

He's a poetic fellow, an artist and a businessman, Bono continued. Just because he's been extremely busy, that doesn't mean that he and his wife, Laurene, have not been thinking about these things. You don't have to be a friend of his to know what a private person he is or that he doesn't do things by halves.

The Times story suggested Jobs may have bankrolled a $150 million cancer center at the University of California, San Francisco and cited a time when he worked with former California Gov. Arnold Schwarznegger to create a live donor registry for kidney transplants.

Jobs has suffered from pancreatic cancer and received a liver transplant two years ago. In his resignation letter as Apple CEO Aug. 23, he said his health no longer permitted him to work.

Apple shares Thursday closed at $381.03, giving the Cupertino, Calif.-based company a market capitalization of $353.3 billion.