Of all the interviews about Steve Jobs, it was Eric Schmidt’s that was perhaps most moving [Video]

I was fortunate to watch this interview live yesterday on Bloomberg TV and I was utterly glued.

Here was a man, Schmidt, a friend of Steve Jobs but ultimately a fierce competitor who works alongside two great entrepreneurs in their own right, Google founders Larry and Sergey yet he described Jobs, in no uncertain terms, as the greatest tech entrepreneur in history…and more.

“He saw beauty as a part of everything he did…He was a combination of technology and artist. An analogy from history would be Michaelango, who did both. There are very very few such people in history.”

Schmidt shared a moving appreciation of his friend and competitor Steve Jobs who he once shared a spot on Apple’s board with. He made clear that he had the utmost respect for Jobs as a leader, entrepreneur and man.

Between the countless superlatives, Schmidt claimed that Jobs was seriously ill and it was his stubbornness and devotion to his life & work that kept him alive so long. In Schmidt’s own words “he lived the longest he possibly could as someone with his illness…. If there was anyone who understood the value of life, it’s Steve Jobs”

Schmidt went on to describe Jobs as “our country’s greatest innovator. He cared the way an artist cares about every brush stroke.”

When asked “Is there anyone like him that you know? Schmidt replied, “I do not.”

The interview is simply a must watch.