> Except if you put any of the above names in an environment that doesn't suit them, they will likely be mediocre at best, and even damaging at worse.

In the immortal words of Jobs, "real artists ship". Those names are well known precisely because they have a proven track record of shipping products - very few of those would let a challenging environment get in the way of shipping.

That said, as their employer, you may well not like the way they go about it. Name-brand engineers don't take shit from management, and if you get in their way, they won't be shy about airing that publicly.