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Fortune
Fortune
Dave Smith

Corning CEO says Steve Jobs pressured him into making all the screens for the first iPhone: ‘Do you know what your biggest problem is? You’re afraid’

Steve Jobs Wendell Weeks Corning Apple Fortune
Steve Jobs holds up his hands while speaking (Credit: Sean Gallup—Getty Images)

When Steve Jobs needed glass screens for the first iPhone in 2007, he didn’t just place an order with Corning. He challenged its CEO to confront his own fears about not being able to produce enough.

Wendell Weeks, who has led the 175-year-old glass and materials science company for two decades, recently recounted the pivotal conversation that helped define Apple’s most successful product. Speaking on Fortune’s Leadership Next podcast with hosts Diane Brady and Kristin Stoller, Weeks revealed how Jobs manipulated him into taking on what seemed like an impossible task.

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