Why Did Steve Jobs Deny Lisa Brennan-Jobs Was His Daughter?
Steve Jobs was arguably one of the smartest, most aspirational business leaders in the modern world. However, his home life was less than ideal. It’s true he saw enormous success with Apple and the technology revolution. But behind his professional triumphs, his personal life was a mess. He even had a daughter he claimed wasn’t his even though she clearly was.
What made Steve Jobs claim he wasn’t the father of Lisa Brennan-Jobs? Well, it’s complicated.
Steve Jobs didn’t have an easy childhood
Jobs was adopted at a young age, but even that process didn’t go smoothly. Originally, he was placed with a “Catholic, well-educated couple,” but they changed their minds and decided they wanted a daughter instead. When he was placed with another couple, neither of whom were educated, Jobs’ birth mother, Joanne Scheible, refused to sign the papers.
But being placed with this family turned out to be a blessing. Steve Jobs’ adoptive father built him a workbench in the garage where he could tinker with projects. And Steve loved his family even without the fancy credentials. Later, Jobs referred to his birth parents as his “sperm and egg bank” but maintained his home life with the Jobs family was special.
Things got serious with his high school sweetheart
Steve Jobs met Chrisann Brennan at Homestead High School in Cupertino, California. The two dated on and off for five years before Brennan became pregnant in 1977. From the first moments, Jobs denied he was the child’s father.
Coincidentally, his daughter Lisa was conceived the same year Steve Jobs founded Apple. He focused all of his efforts on making his new company a success, and he didn’t have time for fatherhood.
Lisa Nicole Brennan was born on May 17, 1978, at a commune outside of Portland, Oregon, The Guardian reports. Her father, Steve Jobs, was not present for the birth.
Steve Jobs refused to believe the baby was his
Only Steve Jobs himself could say for sure why he refused to believe reality — that Lisa Brennan-Jobs was his biological daughter. His paternity denial led to a legal battle where a DNA test proved he was indeed the father. However, he still refuted paternity, claiming “28% of the male population of the United States could be the father.”
Despite his refusal to accept her as his daughter, Steve Jobs named an early Apple computer “Lisa.” At the time, he claimed it was an acronym for “local integrated systems architecture.” But later, he admitted the computer was “obviously” named for the daughter he had refused to acknowledge.
No one is sure why Steve Jobs denied his daughter at first. But the two made amends before his death in 2011.
Steve Jobs and his daughter Lisa Brennan-Jobs had a difficult relationship
Many years later, Steve Jobs relented to the idea he could be Lisa’s father. But by that point, the damage to their relationship was so extreme it took a long time to repair it.
“All I wanted was closeness and sweetness and for him to relieve me. To let me be the star, probably. To be like, ‘Well, how was your day?’ And to listen,” Brennan-Jobs told The Guardian. “And at such a young age, and so used to the spotlight and to everybody fawning on him … he didn’t know how to be with me.”
Father and daughter finally connected
Instead, Lisa and her father faced plenty of turmoil, angst, and uncertainty. But their relationship improved before Steve Jobs died of pancreatic cancer in 2011.
The two spent years repairing their connection. And eventually, despite having been stingy with his fortune, Jobs left his daughter several million dollars as part of an inheritance.
Lisa Brennan-Jobs published a memoir chronicling the long journey to forgiveness, Small Fry, in 2018.
