Steve Jobs Regretted Not Getting Cancer Operation Immediately [Video]

In segment from Walter Isaacson's upcoming interview with 60 Minutes, the author of the only authorized Steve Jobs biography reveals that the Apple co-founder regretted not getting cancer surgery immediately.

"I've asked [Jobs why he didn't get an operation then] and he said, 'I didn't want my body to be opened...I didn't want to be violated in that way,'" Isaacson recalls. So he waited nine months, while his wife and others urged him to do it, before getting the operation, reveals Isaacson. Asked by Kroft how such an intelligent man could make such a seemingly stupid decision, Isaacson replies, "I think that he kind of felt that if you ignore something, if you don't want something to exist, you can have magical thinking...we talked about this a lot," he tells Kroft. "He wanted to talk about it, how he regretted it....I think he felt he should have been operated on sooner."

Isaacson said after Jobs had the surgery, he down played the seriousness of his condition and even received cancer treatments in secret.


In the interview that airs on 60 Minutes, Sunday, Oct. 23 at 7 p.m. ET/PT, Isaacson also reveals other interesting stories from the book including the fact that Jobs had actually met the man who turned out to be his biological father before he knew who he was. He also talks about the discussion he had with Jobs about death and the afterlife, explaining that for Jobs, the odds of there being a God were 50-50, but that he thought about the existence of God much more once he was diagnosed with cancer. Another aspect of Jobs' character revealed was his disdain for conspicuous consumption. He tells Isaacson in a taped conversation how he saw Apple staffers turn into "bizarro people" by the riches the Apple stock offering created. Isaacson says Jobs vowed never to let his wealth change him.

Take a look at the video segment below. You can pre-order the biography from here for $17.88. It's scheduled for release on October 24th.