The problem is when others start to believe the "untrue" believes of others, especially such charismatic persons as Steve Jobs. You see this very often, people don't getting their facts right and taking believes for facts.
I'd like to know more about your thoughts on this. In this case the error was simply reputational, which is to say Steve had a high opinion of Holt which was in part based on something that wasn't true.
Now if you were a co-worker's of Holt and passed over for promotion I could see how this would bug you.
If you were an engineer (like Ken the author of this point) you might say "I don't think that is true" and quickly discover that the 'boss' was wrong on this particular point. Depending on how much you cared you might share it with your boss you might not.
If this mistaken belief got out of hand and Steve had directed Apple to sue say Delta Electronics for patent infringement. It wouldn't because the lawyers would have done their diligence and they would have realized the outcome would be the invalidation of Holt's patent.
People who are mislead by the charismatic person become disillusioned when they discover the truth is not as it was told to them. That is 'bad' for the charismatic person and potentially embarrassing for the person who didn't check their facts. But I'm still not getting the source of wrath.
Disclaimer I'll be the first to admit I'm a bit clueless when it comes to these sorts of emotional battles, they don't make a lot of sense to me.
