The Steve Jobs FBI dossier: 5 surprises

The late Apple co-founder earned poor grades in high school, and that's just the beginning of what's in his just-released file

On Thursday, the FBI released its once secret 191-page file on late Apple visionary Steve Jobs. The dossier details the extensive background check performed on Jobs in 1991 when he was being considered for a spot on the President's Export Council in the George H.W. Bush administration. The report includes interviews with friends and colleagues, who all offer their opinions on the Apple co-founder. Here, five of the most surprising revelations:

1. He might not have been a very nice guy
I've read a lot of background FBI investigations, says John Cook at Gawker, and I've rarely encountered one in which "this much derogatory information gets dredged up." Among the disparaging claims from people whose names were redacted: He "will twist the truth and distort reality to achieve his goals." He's a "deceptive individual." His "moral character is questionable." There was even one instance in which a woman refused to discuss Jobs at all because "she has questions concerning his ethics and his morality." Still, most of those interviewed recommended him for the appointment, although he didn't get it.

SEE MORE: Is Apple's next tablet the 'iPad 2S'?

2. He had "Top Secret" security clearance
Between 1988 and 1990, Jobs held Top Secret security clearance, associated with his position at Pixar. It's unclear why exactly Jobs had such high clearance, says Joe Coscarelli at New York, but just before it was terminated in 1990, Pixar sold its Image Computer unit to Vicom Systems Inc., which "develops and manufactures image processing systems that are sold to the medical, military, industry-automation, and inspection markets." Perhaps, then, the clearance could have been tied to "the sale of Pixar hardware to a military contractor."

3. He was the target of a bomb threat
The file reveals that Jobs and other Apple employees were targets of a bomb threat in 1985, says Ned Potter at ABC News. The incident took place on Feb. 7, 1985, when "an unidentified male made a series of calls to Apple staff." He claimed there were three "devices" at the homes of Jobs and two other executives. A fourth bomb at an undisclosed location would go off, the caller said, if authorities were notified. He demanded $1 million, and told Apple officials to look for further instructions in a note hidden under a table by a candy machine at a San Francisco Hilton. Police traced the call to the San Francisco Airport, swept the alleged bomb locations, came up with nothing, and made no arrests.

SEE MORE: Tim Cook's $375 million year: By the numbers

4. He had an affinity for drugs… and Asian culture
Much has already been made about Jobs' past drug use, and the FBI file confirms the previous reports, says Kim Zetter at Wired. Several of those interviewed remarked on Jobs' druge use, "which included, by his own admission, the use of LSD during his school days." Two others called attention to his knowledge of Asian culture, which they argued was crucial to his success and "would aid him in his position on the export council."

5. His GPA was much lower than you'd expect
Many people hyperbolically view Steve Jobs as a veritable "master of the universe," says Alexis Madrigal at The Atlantic, so imagine their shock that, on a standard 4.0 scale, Jobs earned just a 2.65 grade point averge in high school. That means that during his four years palling around with Steve Wozniak at California's Homestead High School from 1968 to 1972, he received mostly Bs and Cs. The takeaway: "Perhaps the abilities it takes to get a perfect high school record do not perfectly overlap with the skills it takes to build a $450 billion company."

SEE MORE: Apple's 'unimaginable' quarterly earnings: 5 talking points

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Facebook's 'eye-popping' IPO: 5 surprises

A number of revelations are hidden among the data points in the social network's S-1 filing

Facebook filed for a $5 billion initial public offering this week, producing more than a few billionaires. But sprinkled through the S-1 filing's charts and figures were a number of "eye-popping" surprises, including a bizarre hacker manifesto penned by Zuckerberg himself. Here, 5 other revelations:

1. The Executive Board will have little voting power
In one "very important way," Facebook is still a private company, says Mathew Ingram at Giga Om. That's because Mark Zuckerberg owns a special class of stock that gives him super-voting rights, the equivalent of 57 percent of the company's votes. "In other words you may own stock in the company, but you have virtually no say in what happens to it." Zuckerberg will wield essentially the same power he did when the company was private, and, if he dies while running the company, that power will transfer to whomever he designates as his successor. Like Steve Jobs — whose control over Apple yielded some "incredible, world-changing products" — Zuckberberg will still be able to follow his vision, doing "whatever he wants with Facebook," public or not.

SEE MORE: Timeline: 'The greatest thing Facebook's ever done'?

2. Zuckerberg's security-detail is built into his compensation
The Facebooker-in-Chief made a salary of $483,333 in 2011, significantly less than the company's other chief officers, says Hayley Tsukayama at the Washington Post. But Zuckerberg received "other" compensation in the form of "chartered travel costs and security details," amounting to $783,529. "We require these security measures for the company's benefit because of the importance of Mr. Zuckerberg to Facebook," notes the document filing, "and we believe that the costs of this comprehensive security program are appropriate and necessary."

3. The company values Sheryl Sandberg to an unexpected degree
The filing includes a list of potential risk factors for investors to monitor warily, most notably the failure to gain new users and new advertisers, says Christopher Zinsli at the Wall Street Journal. Also listed as a "risk"? The potential loss of chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, who's clearly considered indispensable. This is "a surprising if not shocking mention for the former Google executive," says Tsukuyama. Some speculate that Sandburg may be considering a role in politics. 

SEE MORE: Will Facebook's 'Listen With Friends' feature kill Turntable.fm?

4. Facebook doesn't know how what to do with its mobile users
"More than 425 million users accessed Facebook from mobile devices in 2011," says Brittany Darwell at Inside Facebook. That's a 70 percent increase since March 2011. But the company concedes that it doesn't yet know how to monetize users who access Facebook's mobile products, and acknowledged that "business will suffer if it cannot." Facebook, which doesn't run display ads on its mobile products now, will have to find "a clever, non-intrusive way to use all of its data for mobile marketing," says Tsukayama. Otherwise, this could become a "huge deal." 

5. Each user is worth than less $5
It's "easy to be overwhelmed" parsing through all the new data, says Alexis Madrigal at The Atlantic. But one number "matters more than all the others": $4.69. That's the revenue per monthly active Facebook user — and it's not enough to justify a market capitalization of $100 billion, even if the company somehow hits 3 billion users. Facebook needs to "double the amount of money they squeeze out of each user," with much more advertising and more revenue "from the companies selling credits to purchase virtual items, primarily in games produced by companies like Zynga." With user growth starting to slow, raising the value of each user is crucial. 

SEE MORE: Is Facebook really worth $100 billion?

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