Can we have a list? Delivering something 'great' should be subjective here; it means that someone sustained a profitable multi-billion company with products for many (>10) years. Not if YOU like the product. I see a lot of bastards (Gates, Ellison, Jobs); where are the nice guys?

Edit: Google? I don't know if he is?

The fact of the matter is that if you want to deliver a great product, sometimes you do need to be a dickhead. You can see some really good examples of this if you look at other places in the industry. For instance, if it wasn't for Sinofsky's ability to trample obstacles (as in, the people who were getting in the way), we would not have Windows Vista, and subsequently, Windows 7.

Being nice is good and all, but if you want to challenge the status quo in a significant way, you need to ruffle some feathers.

Unfortunately, some people believe so...