Writing for the New York Times , Brad Stone has unmasked Forbes senior editor Daniel Lyons as the “real” Fake Steve Jobs, author of The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs, a satirical look at the Apple CEO.
Lyons told Stone that he was “stunned” it had taken so long to identify him — he’s been writing the blog for more than a year, and while speculation has run rampant about Fake Steve’s identity (resulting in this recent column by frequent Macworld contributor Andy Ihnatko), no one had singled Daniel Lyons out as author of the funny, biting satire.
Lyons is the author of two books whose third, “Options: The Secret Life of Steve Jobs, a Parody” will be published by De Capo Press this fall. The book will be published in the voice of the fake Steve Jobs.
Lyons told Stone he was inspired to start the blog after recognizing that a small group of CEOs who were blogging had captured the attention of the media, but they rarely spoke candidly. He decided to turn the tables by creating the persona of Fake Steve to tell readers what he “really” thought.
Lyons, a technology columnist by trade, explained that he tried out the voices of several high-profile CEOs before settling on Jobs.
The New York Times article is free to read, but registration is required.