CUPERTINO, Calif. — Half a century ago, two young friends with big dreams launched what would become one of the world’s most valuable companies from a garage in California. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak established Apple Computer Co. on April 1, 1976, transforming from startup founders into technology legends.
The partnership began when Jobs, then 21 and a college dropout, joined forces with 25-year-old Wozniak, who worked at Hewlett-Packard and loved building gadgets. They signed a simple two-page agreement that gave each founder 45% ownership, while advisor Ron Wayne received the remaining 10%.
Wayne’s decision to sell his stake for $2,300 during Apple’s rocky early days would become legendary — that share would be worth $370 billion today, given Apple’s current $3.7 trillion market value.
The company’s journey included dramatic highs and lows. After forcing out Jobs during a bitter corporate dispute in 1985, Apple struggled for years before bringing him back in 1997. Jobs initially agreed to serve as a temporary consultant but eventually became CEO, launching an unprecedented period of innovation that produced the iPod, iPhone, and iPad.
Apple’s first major breakthrough came in June 1977 with the Apple II computer, selling for $1,298 (approximately $7,000 in today’s dollars). The success led to Apple’s public offering in late 1980 at $22 per share — an investment that would be worth millions today after stock splits.
The company made history on January 24, 1984, when Jobs quoted Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin’” while introducing the first Macintosh computer. The machine brought computer mice and graphical interfaces to mainstream users. Apple had previewed the Macintosh two days earlier with a memorable Super Bowl commercial directed by Ridley Scott, inspired by George Orwell’s “1984” novel.
Despite innovative features, the $2,500 Macintosh (nearly $7,900 today) sold poorly, leading to layoffs and tension between Jobs and CEO John Sculley, whom Jobs had recruited from PepsiCo in 1983. The relationship deteriorated into a power struggle that ended with Jobs’ resignation in September 1985.
Following Jobs’ departure, Apple continued producing Mac computers under Sculley’s leadership but struggled against cheaper PCs running Microsoft software. A seven-year legal battle over Microsoft’s use of Mac-style interfaces ended unsuccessfully for Apple with a 1994 Supreme Court ruling.
Apple cycled through several CEOs — firing Sculley in 1993, replacing him with Michael Spindler until early 1996, then board member Gil Amelio. Amelio’s most significant move was purchasing an operating system from NeXT, the company Jobs had started after leaving Apple, for $428 million.
Jobs returned as an advisor in 1997, initially planning to focus on his family and Pixar, the animation studio he had purchased from George Lucas for $5 million in 1986. However, when Apple dismissed Amelio in July 1997, Jobs took control and engineered a remarkable comeback.
By August 1997, Jobs had reconciled with Microsoft founder Bill Gates, securing a $150 million investment that helped fund the colorful, translucent iMac computers. The “i” prefix represented “internet, individual, instruct, inform, and inspire.”
Jobs launched the iPod in October 2001, a music device initially storing 1,000 songs. Apple sold 450 million iPods in various models, virtually eliminating CDs and paving the way for music streaming.
The iPhone became Jobs’ greatest achievement when he unveiled it on January 9, 2007, in San Francisco. “These are not three separate devices. This is one device! And we are calling it the iPhone,” he announced after describing an iPod with touch controls, a revolutionary phone, and an internet device.
More than 3 billion iPhones have sold since then, still generating over half of Apple’s $416 billion annual revenue nearly 15 years after Jobs’ death from cancer. While successor Tim Cook hasn’t created another product as revolutionary as the iPhone, he has grown Apple’s value tenfold from its $350 billion worth when Jobs died.
