Because it Steve was subject to a different set of incentives...

Because it Steve was subject to a different set of incentives back then. Once it became listed, investors were basically locked in, which meant that he could do whatever tf he liked without needing to fear a FUM exodus. With some managers, this improves performance, but the evidence seems to say that in Steve's case, this security has probably been detrimental to performance.

If his investments were moves in a game of chess, I'd say that his pre-listing moves deserved plenty of exclamation marks, while his post-listing moves have had more question marks.