Chief Executive Officer of Apple Inc .

Steve Jobs

Beginning of Apple Computer

In 1976, Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne,[45] with later funding from a then-semi-retired Intel product-marketing manager and engineer A.C. "Mike" Markkula Jr.,[13] founded Apple Prior to co-founding Apple, Wozniak was an electronics hacker. Jobs and Wozniak had been friends for several years, having met in 1971, when their mutual friend, Bill Fernandez, introduced 21-year-old Wozniak to 16-year-old Jobs. Steve Jobs managed to interest Wozniak in assembling a computer and selling it. As Apple continued to expand, the company began looking for an experienced executive to help manage its expansion. In 1978, Apple recruited Mike Scott from National Semiconductor to serve as CEO for what turned out to be several turbulent years. In 1983, Steve Jobs lured John Sculley away from Pepsi-Cola to serve as Apple's CEO, asking, "Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life, or do you want to come with me and change the world?"[46] [47] The following year, Apple aired a Super Bowl television commercial titled "1984." At Apple's annual shareholders meeting on January 24, 1984, an emotional Jobs introduced the Macintosh to a wildly enthusiastic audience; Andy Hertzfeld described the scene as "pandemonium."[48] The Macintosh became the first commercially successful small computer with a graphical user interface. The development of the Mac was started by Jef Raskin, and eventually taken over by Jobs. While Jobs was a persuasive and charismatic director for Apple, some of his employees from that time had described him as an erratic and temperamental manager. An industry-wide sales slump towards the end of 1984 caused a deterioration in Jobs's working relationship with Sculley, and at the end of May 1985 following an internal power struggle and an announcement of significant layoffs Sculley relieved Jobs of his duties as head of the Macintosh division.[49]

Around the same time, Jobs founded another computer company, NeXT Computer. Like the Apple Lisa, the NeXT workstation was technologically advanced; however, it was largely dismissed by industry as cost-prohibitive. Among those who could afford it, however, the NeXT workstation garnered a strong following because of its technical strengths, chief among them its object-oriented software development system. Jobs marketed NeXT products to the scientific and academic fields because of the innovative, experimental new technologies it incorporated (such as the Mach kernel, the digital signal processor chip, and the built-in Ethernet port). In 1996, Apple announced that it would buy NeXT for $429million. The deal was finalized in late 1996,[53] bringing Jobs back to the company he had co-founded. Jobs became de facto chief after then-CEO Gil Amelio was ousted in July. He was formally named interim chief executive in September 1997.[54] In March 1998, to concentrate Apple's efforts on returning to profitability, Jobs terminated a number of projects, such as Newton, Cyberdog, and OpenDoc. In the coming months, many employees developed a fear of encountering Jobs while riding in the elevator, "afraid that they might not have a job when the doors opened. The reality was that Jobs' summary executions were rare, but a handful of victims was enough to terrorize a whole company."[55] Jobs also changed the licensing program for Macintosh clones, making it too costly for the manufacturers to continue making machines. With the purchase of NeXT, much of the company's technology found its way into Apple products, most notably NeXTSTEP, which evolved into Mac OS X. Under Jobs's guidance the company increased sales significantly with the introduction of the iMac and other new products; since then, appealing designs and powerful branding have worked well for Apple. At the 2000 Macworld Expo, Jobs officially dropped the "interim" modifier from his title at Apple and became permanent CEO.[56] Jobs quipped at the time that he would be using the title 'iCEO.'[57] In recent years, the company has branched out, introducing and improving upon other digital appliances. With the introduction of the iPod portable music player, iTunes digital music software, and the iTunes Store, the company made forays into consumer electronics and music distribution. In 2007, Apple entered the cellular phone business with the introduction of the iPhone, a multi-touch display cell phone, which also included the features of an iPod and, with its own mobile browser, revolutionized the mobile browsing

Business Life
Business life Wealth Even though Jobs only earns $1 a year,[60] he holds 5.426million Apple shares, as well as 138 million shares in Disney (which he had received in exchange for Disney's acquisition of Pixar),[61] Forbes has estimated his net wealth at $5.1billion in 2009, making him the 43rd wealthiest American.[62] After Bloomberg had accidentally published Jobs' obituary in 2008, Arik Hesseldahl of BusinessWeek magazine noted that "Jobs isnt widely known for his association with philanthropic causes", compared to Bill Gates' efforts.[63] After resuming control of Apple in 1997, Jobs eliminated all corporate philanthropy programs.[64] Stock options backdating issue In 2001, Steve Jobs was granted stock options in the amount of 7.5million shares of Apple with an exercise price of $18.30, which allegedly should have been $21.10, thereby incurring taxable income of $20,000,000 that he did not report as income. This indicated backdating. Apple overstated its earnings by that same amount. If found liable, Jobs might have faced a number of criminal charges and civil penalties. Apple claimed that the options were originally granted at a special board meeting that may never have taken place. Furthermore, the investigation is focusing on false dating of the options resulting in a retroactive $20million increase in the exercise price. The case is the subject of active criminal and civil government investigations,[65] though an independent internal Apple investigation completed on December 29, 2006, found that Jobs was unaware of these issues and that the options granted to him were returned without being exercised in 2003.[66] On July 1, 2008, a $7billion class action suit was filed against several members of the Apple Board of Directors for revenue lost due to the alleged securities fraud.
[67] [68]

Management style Much has been made of Jobs' aggressive and demanding personality. Fortune wrote that he "is considered one of Silicon Valley's leading egomaniacs."[69] Commentaries on his temperamental style can be found in Mike Moritz's The Little Kingdom, one of the few authorized biographies of Jobs; The Second Coming of Steve Jobs, by Alan Deutschman; and iCon: Steve Jobs, by Jeffrey S. Young & William L. Simon. In 1993, Jobs made the Fortune's list of America's Toughest Bosses in regard to his leadership of Next. Cofounder Dan'l Lewin said, "The highs were unbelievable," "But the lows were unimaginable. Job's office replied that his personality changed since then.[70] Jef Raskin, a former colleague, once said that Jobs "would have made an excellent king of France," alluding to Jobs' compelling and larger-than-life persona.[71] Jobs has always aspired to position Apple and its products at the forefront of the information technology industry by foreseeing and setting trends, at least in innovation and style. He summed up that self-concept at the end of his keynote speech at the Macworld Conference and Expo in January 2007 by quoting ice hockey legend Wayne Gretzky:[72] There's an old Wayne Gretzky quote that I love. 'I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.' And we've always tried to do that at Apple. Since the very very beginning. And we always will.

Inventions and Honours

Inventions Jobs is listed as either primary inventor or co-inventor in over 230 awarded patents or patent applications related to a range of technologies from actual computer and portable devices to user interfaces (including touch-based), speakers, keyboards, power adapters, staircases, clasps, sleeves, lanyards and packages.[76] [77]

Honors He was awarded the National Medal of Technology from President Ronald Reagan in 1984 with Steve Wozniak (among the first people to ever receive the honor),[126] and a Jefferson Award for Public Service in the category "Greatest Public Service by an Individual 35 Years or Under" (a.k.a. the Samuel S. Beard Award) in 1987.[127] On November 27, 2007, Jobs was named the most powerful person in business by Fortune Magazine.[128] On December 5, 2007, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver inducted Jobs into the California Hall of Fame, located at The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts.[129] In August 2009, Jobs was selected the most admired entrepreneur among teenagers on a survey by Junior Achievement.[130] On November 5, 2009, Jobs was named the CEO of the decade by Fortune Magazine.[131] In November 2009, Jobs was ranked No.57 on Forbes: The World's Most Powerful People.[132] In December 2010, the Financial Times named Jobs its person of the year for 2010, ending its essay by stating, "In his autobiography, John Sculley, the former PepsiCo executive who once ran Apple, said this of the ambitions of the man he had pushed out: 'Apple was supposed to become a wonderful consumer products company. This was a lunatic plan. High-tech could not be designed and sold as a consumer product.' How wrong can you be".[133]

Thank You