Steve Jobs

Early life and education: Steven Paul Jobs was born in San Francisco and was adopted shortly after birth; he grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and attended Reed College in Portland, Oregon, for a short time before dropping out and continuing to audit classes that interested him. As a teenager and young adult he experimented with electronics and joined early hobbyist communities that influenced his approach to design and technology. Founding Apple and early success (1976–1985): In 1976 Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne founded Apple (originally Apple Computer) from Jobs’s family home; the Apple I and then Apple II helped launch the personal‑computer industry, and Apple’s 1980 IPO made Jobs a multimillionaire at a young age. Jobs led the Macintosh project to create a graphical, user‑friendly personal computer, but internal power struggles culminated in his resignation from Apple in 1985. NeXT and Pixar (1985–1996): After leaving Apple, Jobs founded NeXT, a computer company aimed at higher‑education and business markets, and he purchased and built up Pixar, which shifted from graphics hardware/software into a leading animation studio and produced Toy Story and later animated hits that redefined the film animation business; Pixar’s success substantially increased Jobs’s wealth and influence. Return to Apple and transformation (1997–2011): Apple acquired NeXT in 1997, bringing Jobs back to the company; as CEO he streamlined product lines, emphasized industrial design and user experience, launched the iMac (restoring profitability), created the iTunes Store and Apple retail stores, and introduced category‑defining products including the iPod, iPhone, and iPad that expanded Apple from a computer maker into a global consumer electronics and services company. Jobs took an annual salary of $1 in later years, served as CEO until his resignation for health reasons in August 2011, and remained chairman until his death on October 5, 2011.