How much is Steve Jobs worth to Apple?
That’s the question addressed in an article by Jeff Segal (which I saw thanks to Om). Jeff estimates the value of Apple’s businesses, subtracts the sum from Apple’s market cap, and attributes the difference to “the Jobs premium.” Now, any such calculation has to be based on some heroic assumptions. I want to quibble about one of them: the assumption that all the difference is due to Jobs. What about other people, such as the designers? What about the Apple brand, which would still be strong even if Steve stepped down? I believe that there is some worth to those assets. That’s not to deny that Steve Jobs adds value to Apple (even as he and Apple annoy me with their smugness). It’s to deny that he, or anyone, is alone worth anything like $20 billion to their firm.
