They may have been bitter rivals at one time, but they parted as friends. Thus was the story of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. The two technological geniuses were at the precipice of the computing revolution that occurred in the 1980s and thereafter. While Gates led Microsoft and its innovative software and operating systems, Jobs sat at the helm of Apple, bringing home computers to the world at large.

“He and I, in a sense, grew up together. We were within a year of the same age, and we were naively optimistic and built big companies. We achieved all of it, and most of it as rivals, but we always retained a certain respect” Gates told 60 Minutes’ Charlie Rose in a May 12 interview. “Every fantasy we had about creating products and learning new things, you know, we achieved all of it.”

Gates recalled his memories of Jobs, including his admiration for the late Apple co-founder. When the pair last met — in May 2011 — Jobs was gravely ill but still optimistic for the future.

And although Gates and Jobs played out a very public rivalry at times — Jobs once said Microsoft had “no taste” — Gates grew emotional recounting his memories of the man he greatly admired.

Gates admitted he envied Jobs’ sense of design. “That everything had to fit a certain aesthetic. The fact that he, with as little engineering background as he had, it shows that design can lead you in a good direction … and so, phenomenal products came out.”

That sense of design allowed Apple to profit from products that Microsoft first created.

“We did tablets lots of tablets, well before Apple did… But they put the pieces together in a way that succeeded,” Gates explained. “(Jobs) knew about brand — in a very positive sense. He had an intuitive sense for marketing that was amazing.”