At Ask Metafilter, somebody asked why Steve Wozniak has so much cred. Woz is the cofounder of Apple Computers, and is widely and probably accurately regarded as the brains behind the operation that Steve Jobs marketed so well.

Among the people who replied was Steve Wozniak. He said in part

I don’t think you make $ with books, or I don’t think that I’m in that category. I don’t look at how much I got for the book. I couldn’t even tell you closely how much I got as advances. I never looked at the checks. I go inside and make the right choices and then stay loyal to them. I also keep verbal deals as no businessman would. My splits with Gina I know, the percentages, because that makes right versus wrong.

….

I don’t mind if people don’t like me as long as it’s for things I am. There’s plenty to find there. I do try to remain the person I would have wanted to become, from when I was 10 and when I was 20. Even after something like Apple I managed to remain close to the same person, doing things I would have done had Apple never come about, like getting my degree and teaching and much more.

I think that’s pretty good justification for being famous right there.