Did you know that Steve Jobs was given up for adoption as an infant?
Abdulfattah John Jandali, a Syrian immigrant who came to the US a few decades ago, is the biological father of Apple CEO and rich man Steve Jobs.
Jandali, 80 years old, conceived the child with his now-ex-wife Joanne Simpson but Simpson’s father was against the idea of his daughter marrying a Syrian. As a result, their child was given up for adoption.
However, Simpson’s dad died just a few months later, allowing the couple to be together without issue, and were able to have more children after that.
While Steve Jobs clearly never gained any direct influences from his biological dad, the two do share at least one characteristic – they’re workaholics. Jandali is himself fairly successful as the vice president of a casino in Reno and refuses to retire.
A few years back, he was curious about the son he gave away so long ago and was stunned to learn that it was in fact Steve Jobs.
According to a new article in the New York Post, Jandali has e-mailed his son a few times but never taken the initiative to meet him face-to-face. Now that Jobs may be on his deathbed, though, he wants to have that opportunity.
He said he hopes his son will call him so the two can get a cup of coffee or some such. He told the Post he regrets not having more of an influence on Jobs’s life.
The people Jobs calls mom and dad were a working-class couple from Mountain View, California. And such is another page in the intriguing life story of the inimitable CEO.
