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Apple was founded on April 1, 1976 by college friends Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak along with Ronald Wayne. The company was started in the Jobs' family garage in Los Altos, California.
The two Steves had met years earlier while working at Atari, where the young and visionary Steve Jobs impressed the talented engineer Steve Wozniak with his drive and big ideas.
When Wozniak created a personal computer circuit board, the two decided to start their own computer company focused on making PCs accessible and user-friendly, a novel idea at the time.
The third founder Ronald Wayne was brought in to provide business guidance, given his experience in that domain.
However, Wayne ended up leaving the fledgling company just 12 days later, selling his 10% stake for only $800. In later years, Wayne rued his decision as that stake would have made him a billionaire when Apple became highly successful and profitable.
Meanwhile, Jobs and Wozniak pressed on, working tirelessly out of the garage on their first products. They introduced the Apple I computer kit first, aimed at hobbyists.
Just a year later in 1977, their iconic Apple II personal computer was launched as one of the first mass-produced PCs with color graphics and an integrated keyboard. With the Apple II's immense success, Apple's rise as one of the most influential technology titans had begun.
Jobs' vision and drive paired with Wozniak's technical genius was key to this rapid ascent that revolutionized personal computing and technology.
When Apple Computer was incorporated in January 1977, Michael Markkula recruited his former marketing manager Michael Scott to be Apple's first president and CEO.
Scott's role was to provide adult supervision and business experience to the young founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, as they transitioned from pioneers in the home computer revolution to leaders of a major company.
Scott put in place Apple's early policies and operations, and oversaw the introduction of seminal products like the Apple II in 1977 and the Apple III in 1980. He hired many of Apple's first key employees that laid the foundation for Apple's extraordinary success in the 1980s and beyond.
However, by 1980 it became clear that Apple needed more experienced management to support its rapid growth. Scott's background was more marketing rather than high-tech, and his style clashed with the unconventional culture fostered by Jobs.
In 1981, Scott stepped down as CEO but remained on the Apple board of directors as chairman until 1983 when he departed the company altogether.
Scott paved the way in Apple's critical early years when the fledgling startup transformed into one of the fastest growing companies in history.
His professional management and business acumen provided stability and structure, setting up Jobs, Wozniak, and the rest of the Apple team for the stellar success to come.
Mike Markkula was Apple's second CEO and the man who provided critical early funding and business guidance to the young company.
A veteran of Intel and Fairchild Semiconductor, Markkula invested $250,000 in Apple in 1977 and used his business savvy to help Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak transform their garage project into a real company.
Markkula helped Apple incorporate, brought in Michael Scott as the first CEO, and worked behind the scenes as a mentor to Apple's founders.
Then in 1981 when Scott stepped down, Markkula agreed to serve as stopgap CEO while Apple searched for an experienced replacement.
As CEO from 1981 to 1983, Markkula put in place vital tools, training, support, and culture that paved the way for Apple's future ascent.
He established Apple's business plan, expanded stock options to employees to build loyalty, brought in John Sculley as the next CEO, and helped instill a commitment to research, innovation and quality that became hallmarks of Apple.
Markkula was arguably Apple's most vital early investor and guide. Without his crucially helpful infusion of cash, wisdom and leadership during the uncertain pioneering years, Apple likely would not have survived long enough to become the ubiquitous technology leader it is today.
Although Markkula only served briefly as CEO, his imprint on Apple was profound and enduring.
In 1983, Apple was seeking an experienced corporate leader to replace Mike Markkula as CEO and help the fast-growing company reach new heights.
They found their man in John Sculley, a well-regarded consumer marketing expert and president of PepsiCo. Co-founder Steve Jobs famously asked Sculley, "do you want to sell sugared water for the rest of your life, or do you want to come with me and change the world?”
That appealed to Sculley’s ego and ambitions, and he accepted the offer to become Apple's third CEO.
Sculley's time at Apple had peaks and valleys. Early on, with Jobs still involved in visionary work, Sculley presided over successful product launches like the first Macintosh in 1984, the LaserWriter printer and Desktop Publishing.
Sales and market share climbed through the mid-1980s. However, Sculley struggled without Jobs' product innovation and leadership, missing trends like the transition to consumer laptops.
He and Jobs also clashed over priorities, and in 1985 Jobs was effectively forced out of Apple's daily operations.
In the early 1990s with Apple in decline and losing money, Sculley ousted many Jobs loyalists and tried reinventing Apple's approach. But he was unable to stem the tide before Apple's board removed him as CEO in mid-1993.
Sculley will be remembered in Apple lore as the leader who came in with great promise but left prematurely as the company drifted into also-ran status. It took the eventual return of Steve Jobs to put Apple back on the path toward global technology supremacy it enjoys today.
When John Sculley was removed as Apple CEO in 1993, his successor was Michael Spindler, a German business executive who had been with Apple since 1980.
Spindler was charged with reversing Apple's declining fortunes during a difficult transitional period in the computer industry and Apple itself.
However, Spindler was unable to turn Apple around. A key area he struggled with was product strategy.
Under his watch, Apple missed the accelerating trend towards lower-cost mass-market personal computers. Spindler also attempted to license the Macintosh operating system to other hardware makers, a deviation from Apple's closed integrated system approach.
While some new products were launched like the Power Macintosh line, Apple continued losing market share to Wintel PCs running Microsoft Windows.
By the mid-1990s, Apple was dangerously close to bankruptcy. With the company foundering and stock prices tumbling, Spindler was forced out as CEO in early 1996.
Spindler inherited immense challenges when he first took over Apple's leadership. But he failed to right the ship and steer Apple toward the new computing landscape and buyers' changing interests.
While an able executive in operations and supply chain management, Spindler demonstrated a lack of broader strategic vision amidst a pivotal juncture for personal technology.
His ousting made way for Gil Amelio’s brief tenure before Steve Jobs eventually resumed control over Apple’s direction.
In 1996, Apple was struggling badly with declining sales, shrinking market share, mounting financial losses and a jumbled product strategy.
The board decided fresh leadership was urgently needed and recruited Gil Amelio to be Apple's new CEO and guide a turnaround.
Amelio was a seasoned executive known for successes reinvigorating technology companies like National Semiconductor.
However, at Apple he faced vastly greater challenges. His key moves included making a pivotal $400 million investment deal with long-time Apple rival Microsoft to continue Mac software development.
Amelio also led efforts to streamline operations and halt Apple's losses.
But his tenure was also marked by turmoil and missteps.
Amelio did not articulate a clear revitalizing strategy and vision for Apple. He also drew criticism internally for layoffs, cutting beloved projects, and poor employee relations while struggling to stem Apple's slide.
Just a year and a half after becoming Apple’s anticipated savior, Amelio was ousted in July 1997 when Apple's directors became convinced he was not up to leading an Apple comeback.
His departure paved the way for Steve Jobs to regain power, take over as interim CEO, and eventually reverse Apple's free-fall into his era of staggering technological successes.
Steve Jobs' second tenure as Apple's CEO, spanning from 1997 until 2011, was nothing short of legendary. After an over decade long absence following his ouster in 1985, Jobs returned to Apple in late 1996 when it purchased his computer company NeXT.
The following summer, Jobs orchestrated a boardroom coup to remove Gil Amelio as CEO and take over leadership himself on an interim basis.
In the years that followed, Jobs set about revitalizing Apple and realigning it around his forward-looking vision and innovation.
He simplified Apple's product lines, ended years of accumulated losses, focused R&D efforts, and forged a new styling and design ethos that made Apple products iconic and coveted.
Jobs also led Apple into major new product categories like portable music players, smartphones, digital animation studios, and tablet computers.
Revolutionary devices including the iMac, iPod, iPhone and iPad fueled Apple's meteoric rise from a declining niche player to one of the world's most valuable brands.
Behind this revival and string of hits was the incomparable leadership of Steve Jobs. His relentless perfectionism, vision of technology's potential, knack for reading consumer desires, and sheer force of will drove Apple to astounding new heights by the time he resigned as CEO in August 2011.
Jobs left Apple poised for continued domination even after his death only weeks later from cancer. His second tenure at Apple's helm fundamentally reshaped not just the company but entire technology landscapes - leaving an unmatched legacy of innovation.
Tim Cook took the helm as Apple’s Chief Executive Officer in August 2011, shortly before co-founder Steve Jobs passed away in October from cancer.
Cook faced huge challenges stepping into the enormous void left by the larger-than-life Jobs' death. But in the decade-plus since, Cook has firmly established himself as an exceptionally capable leader who has forged his own highly successful era at Apple.
Cook had very large shoes to fill considering Jobs' iconic status and the massive growth Apple enjoyed under his guidance.
However, as Apple’s former Chief Operating Officer, Cook understood the company intimately. He provided steady leadership through the initial mourning at Jobs’ loss, while sticking to Apple’s proven strengths in design and integrated hardware/software experiences.
Under Cook's leadership, Apple has continued pioneering innovations across product categories, especially with new additions like the Apple Watch.
He has also spearheaded major growth into services, overseen Apple's expansion in China, and focused Apple as an organization on environmental and social responsibility. Revenues, profits, and market value have absolutely exploded in the 2010s and 2020s.
While his style differs greatly from Jobs, Cook has proven himself to be an outstanding CEO in his own right—ushering in Apple’s current era of unprecedented financial success and immense expansion of its consumer reach globally.
He has demonstrated vision and values strongly aligned with Apple’s culture that position it well for sustained leadership into the future. While there will only ever be one Steve Jobs, Tim Cook is certainly not just keeping his seat warm, but thriving fully in charge at Apple.
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