According to a former senior UK Labour Party MP, the founder and head of Apple, Steve Jobs, had been proposed for an honorary knighthood in 2009 for his outstanding service to technology. Microsoft’s Bill Gates was similarly knighted in 2005.
However, despite the proposal being in the final stages of approval, the move was blocked by the then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown because Mr Jobs apparently declined an invitation to speak at the Labour Party Conference. Probably a wise decision as it happens.