Apple's Growth Since Re-Hiring Steve Jobs 20 Years Ago

Twenty years ago, in December 1996, Steve Jobs returned to Apple. Having left the company in 1985, Jobs wasn’t so much re-hired as he was acqui-hired when Apple bought NeXT, a startup founded by Jobs, for $400 million. In September 1997, Apple’s CEO at the time Gil Amelio was let go and Steve Jobs was named interim CEO. Jobs’ appointment rang in his second stint at the company’s helm and a period which saw Apple transformed from a struggling computer maker to the most profitable company in the world.

With the release of the iPod in 2001, the iPhone in 2007 and the iPad in 2010, Jobs oversaw the disruption of several industries which propelled Apple to the top of the corporate food chain. Over the past twenty years, Apple’s revenue, profit and market capitalization skyrocketed, mostly thanks to products developed under Jobs’ guidance. Steve Jobs passed away in October 2011.