Forbes editor outed as Fake Steve Jobs blogger

The author of the Secret Diary of Steve Jobs, who as Fake Steve blogged in the guise of the Apple supremo for more than a year, has been outed as a Forbes editor.

After failed attempts by the leading Silicon Valley gossip site Valleywag to discover the identity of the mystery blogger, New York Times reporter Brad Stone published the evidence that convinced him that Forbes senior editor, Daniel Lyons, was the man behind the satirical site.

A post made to the Secret Diary blog yesterday claimed that Stone's hunch was indeed correct and that Mr Lyons was the author of the blog that for 14 months has kept industry insiders amused with the supposed musings of the head of Apple, who himself the blog counts as a reader.

Lyons used the blog to regularly lampoon Jobs, his management style, the tech industry and the Valley blogs.

Forbes wasted no time in announcing, yesterday, that the fake blog would be published in association with Forbes.com from today.

According to the New York Times Lyons is the author of two works of fiction, most recently a 1998 novel, "Dog Days."

In October, Da Capo Press will publish his satirical novel written in the voice of the Fake Steve character, "Options: The Secret Life of Steve Jobs, a Parody."

The Times article claimed that it was the description of this manuscript that, in part, led to the unmasking. It claims his agent showed the manuscript to several book publishers, giving details of the author's professional life.

The New York Times found Lyons by looking for writers who fitted the criteria, and then compared writing by "Fake Steve" to writing on Lyons own-name blog Floating Point.

"I'm stunned that it's taken this long," the paper reports Lyons saying. "I have not been that good at keeping it a secret. I've been sort of waiting for this call for months."

Free daily newsletter

If you like our news and feature articles, you can sign up to receive our free daily (Mon-Fri) email newsletter (mobile friendly).