David Bowie was that rare kind of rock star: You didn't have to like his music to admire him. Bowie was a business visionary like the ones who shaped Silicon Valley who just didn't see the point of building companies: He was his own greatest product.
Bowie, born David Jones, died on Jan. 10 at age 69, a bohemian who had amassed a vast fortune thanks in part to his many instinctive firsts. Cataloging them would probably be a futile exercise, but some are worth recalling in the same spirit as his fans now play his songs to remember him.
Bowie's decision to get into rock music was the result of a conscious search for a way to blend business and creativity. Here's how he described it in a BBC interview:
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