The biggest names in tech, media and politics attended Steve Jobs memorial

Image via The Wall Street Journal

Update: The WSJ adds additional details:

U2’s Bono, cellist Yo Yo Ma and singer Joan Baez also performed during the more than an hour-long service, with Bono reading lyrics from an iPad, according to one of these people.

Steve Jobs’s widow Laurene Powell Jobs, sister Mona Simpson and three of his children spoke at the memorial service held for the Apple co-founder on Sunday, according to two people who attended.

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison and Apple’s senior vice president for industrial design Jonathan Ive also spoke, these people said.

Philip Elmer-DeWitt of the Fortune blog published a list of celebrities, politicians, media magnates, high-ranked executives and industry figure heads who had been invited to attend a private memorial service held for Apple co-founder Steve Jobs yesterday at Stanford University’s Memorial Church. The list names only a handful of the invitees reportedly numbing in the hundreds. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore came to pay their respects to Apple’s late co-founder who died at his home at age 56 of respiratory arrest after a years-long battle with a rare form of cancerous tumor on his pancreas.

U2’s lead singer Bono was among the musicians present. Bono, a close friend, recently praised Steve Jobs as a generous donor to charitable causes. Chief creative officer of Pixar John Lasseter, former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates, Google CEO Larry Page, Dell CEO Michael Dell, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison were among the highest-ranked industry executives who paid tribute to Jobs’ life accomplishments, in addition to media magnate Rupert Murdoch and actors Tim Allen and Stephen Fry.

Walter Isaacson’s upcoming authorized biography book titled: Steve Jobs comes out next week…

DeWitt’s list doesn’t mention Samsung’s chief operating officer Lee Jae-yong, son of Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Kun-hee and heir apparent to the group’s leadership. According to a senior Samsung spokesperson, Apple’s boss Tim Cook personally invited Lee Jae-yong to the memorial service. The two executives reportedly had talks the following day on an ongoing legal dispute that has been plaguing their business since last year. Sources claim that Samsung will continue providing Apple with custom-built A6 chips for upcoming new iPhone and iPad models. Prior to departing in a private jet, Samsung’s chief operating officer told reporters that “Samsung should maintain a healthy partnership with Apple”, adding that the two companies should also “compete fiercely but fairly”. Who else was invited?

The news crew also spotted politicians such as former White House chief of staff and current mayor of Chicago Rahm Emanuel and former first lady of California Maria Shriver. Apple employees spotted by a local news helicopter which circled overhead include CEO Tim Cook, iOS chief Scott Forstall.

Current CEO Tim Cook wrote in a company-wide email to troops that Apple would be holding a celebration of Steve Jobs’ life Wednesday, October 19, in the outdoor amphitheater of Apple’s Infinite Loop campus in Cupertino. Apple Stores will be shut down for an hour on Wednesday so that employees can view a live stream of the Apple celebration of Steve Jobs’ life. Cook also issued another email last week to thank employees for their accomplishments, urging them to take extra paid time off this Thanksgiving week for a job well done.

Apple’s co-founder was buried in the Alta Mesa Memorial Park in Palo Alto, California on Friday afternoon, October 7. The Alta Mesa Memorial Park includes many other technology greats like Hewlett-Packard’s co-founder David Packard and engineer Lewis Terman who were partners with Walter Hewlett — who gave Jobs’ his first summer job at the age of 13.