Apple Inc. chairman and co-founder Steven Paul Jobs died Wednesday at the age of 56. Jobs is credited with pioneering the personal-computer industry and changing the way people think about technology. “Died peacefully today surrounded by his family,”is what his family said in a statement released by Apple.
Though the company chose not to specify the cause of death, it is widely known that Jobs had been battling pancreatic cancer and had undergone a liver transplant, few years back. In August of this year, Jobs stepped down as chief executive and handed the reins to longtime deputy Tim Cook.
Addressing the employees through a letter, Cook said, “Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. We will honor his memory by dedicating ourselves to continuing the work he loved so much.”
Over the span of his three-decade career, Jobs laid the foundation for the personal computer industry alongside other pioneers like Microsoft’s Bill Gates. Jobs was unique in the sense that he was obsessive over details and proved the appeal of well-designed products over the power of technology itself and transformed the way people interact with technology.
In the last few years, Jobs experienced the most productive chapter of his career. A string of successful products like the iPod, iPhone and iPad revolutionized the PC, electronics and digital-media industries. The manner in which he employed savvy advertising campaigns to market and sell those products turned Apple into a pop-culture phenomenon. Job’s philosophy was to try to make products that were at the ‘intersection of art and technology.’ In keeping to his philosophy, Jobs turned Apple into the world’s most valuable company with a market value of $ 350 billion.
Jobs along with Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne founded Apple computers in 1976 and the company went public in 1980. Four years later in 1984, Apple introduced the Macintosh which spoke for itself and said, “Never trust a computer you can’t lift.”
Jobs was not a constant at Apple. In 1985 after differences with the then CEO John Sculley he was forced to quit Apple at 30 years of age. Not one to brood, Jobs started his new venture NeXT Computers funded by selling his $ 70 million worth shares in Apple. The next year he bought the Graphics Group division of Lucasfilm that later became Pixar Animation Studios. In 2006, he sold Pixar to Walt Disney for $ 7.4 billion.
During his absence from Apple, the company declined steadily and was relegated to the margins of the computer industry. Ten years later, in 1996, after he returned to Apple, first, as an advisor and then as the CEO, the company saw a reversal in fortunes. In 1998 Apple returned to profitability. In August 2011, Apple shares edged past those of Exxon Mobil to become the most valuable US company, in terms of market capitalization at $ 337.17 billion.
The CEO of the most valuable technology company in the world, Jobs earned a salary of $ 1 a year. He joked that he was paid 50 cents for attending one meeting while the other 50 cents was based on his performance. He held 5.426 million Apple shares, as well as, 138 million shares in Disney and that made him the 42nd wealthiest American with a net worth of $ 8.3 billion. (Forbes estimate)
On the health front, Jobs was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 1994 and underwent a liver transplant in 2009. In August 2011, Jobs stepped down as CEO and handed over the reins to long-standing deputy Tim Cook saying that he could no longer meet his duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO.
Jobs, born on February 24, 1955 and the adopted son of a family in California, leaves behind wife Laurene and four children. College dropout, innovator, visionary, entrepreneur, pioneer, genius – many adjectives have been used to describe Jobs. But the most poignant one is ‘philosopher’, which is evident in his commencement speech at the Stanford University in June 2005, “Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose.”
Rest in Peace, Steven P. Jobs !
You can view an interactive timeline of Jobs at Apple here.
Glimpses of a few memorable moments of the memorable life of Steve Jobs in the video below:
{iframe width=”620″ height=”390″ align=”top”}http://www.youtube.com/embed/DrBw2cXWZS8{/iframe}