The name of Steve Jobs is always associated with Apple, and Apple is a symbol of quality, advanced technology and the best choice. This man managed to create the largest corporation, which became one of the richest in the world.
At the same time, his life cannot be called happy - he grew up in a foster family, his parents abandoned him. He abandoned his brainchild Apple and returned to management only years later. Steve died of cancer at the age of just 56.
How did Steve Jobs go from an adopted child to a person whom the whole world admires even after his death? In this article we will tell the biography of the brilliant creator of Apple!
Childhood
As we already mentioned, Stephen did not grow up with his natural parents. His mother was Joan Schible, a student at the University of Wisconsin, and his father was John Jandali, an assistant at the same institution.
The couple were not married when Joan found out she was pregnant, and her Catholic parents spoke out against their relationship and the child. They even began to threaten to deprive her of her inheritance, so the girl gave birth to the baby in a private clinic and immediately gave it up for adoption. This happened on February 24, 1955.
Joan carefully chose parents for her son, and her main requirement was a higher education. But the couple Paul and Clara Jobs did not fit this parameter, and the girl forced them to write a receipt stating that they undertake to pay for his education.
From that time on, she never saw her son again, and only 31 years later did their first meeting take place. Steve himself considers Paul and Clara his parents.
The boy was named Stephen Paul, and two years later the Jobs took another girl into the family. They all moved to Mountain View together, and Clara got a job as an accountant and Paul worked at a finance company doing auto mechanics. He tried to interest his son in his business, but Steve liked electronics more. He disassembled receivers and televisions and even then began to get involved in this business.
His parents were concerned about getting an education, but Steve was bored at school. The teachers considered him a bully, and only Miss Hill managed to find an approach to the extraordinary child.
True, because of the crime-ridden area, his parents had to move because the boy had problems at school. They chose the town of Cupertino, which is now part of Silicon Valley.
In a new place, Steve met engineer Larry Lang, who introduced him to the world of computers. He brought the boy to classes at a club where they were doing research projects. There he saw a personal computer and immediately burst into ideas.
Steve started his project and built his first frequency counter. Then he got a job at HP and worked in several other places. This allowed him to already have his own car at the age of 15.
In 1969, he met Steve Wozniak, and they immediately became best friends. They were both interested in electronics and computers, so the boys had many common topics to discuss.
First projects
While still at school, Steve and his friends began making various pranks, which were often complex designs. Their first serious work was the Blue box project, a device that could hack a telephone line and make free calls to different countries.
They started selling them for $150, with the cost per box being $40. However, they had problems with the police and disgruntled customers. But even then Steve realized that he could make good money from his hobby.
Even then, the concept of their collaboration with Wozniak was born - he created a brilliant thing, and Jobs figured out how to sell it profitably.
In 1972, he entered Reed College, one of the most prestigious private universities in the United States. He was very expensive, and his parents spent almost all their savings on his studies.
Jobs himself became interested in Eastern philosophy and became a vegetarian. Then he became friends with Daniel Kottke and Robert Friedland. Together with the latter, he traveled to India in 1973 to achieve spiritual enlightenment. However, he did not last long at Reed College; after six months he dropped out of his studies, which seemed boring to him.
Not a team player
The idea of giving away her fortune to the needs of low-income people is not only shared by Lauren Jobs: it is shared, in particular, by the founder of Microsoft Corporation, Bill Gates. Together with his wife Melinda Gates , he is involved in the charitable movement The Giving Pledge.
Lauren Jobs is among the top 100 richest people in the world, but does not support the views of many of them on her finances
Each of those participating in The Giving Pledge believes that after their death, the wealth they accumulated should be given to charity. Along with the Gates couple, this movement is supported by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg , director George Lucas , Oracle co-founder Lawrence “Larry” Ellison, as well as Tesla founder Elon Musk and major investor Warren Buffett (Warren Buffet).
Among the participants of The Giving Pledge there are also Russians - in particular, the idea of the movement is shared by the richest man in Russia Vladimir Potanin , one of the owners of Norilsk Nickel. At the time of publication, the number of participants in The Giving Pledge, founded by Gates and Buffett in 2010, exceeded 65, but Lauren Jobs, despite her philanthropic views, was not among them.
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Elyas Qasmi
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After leaving university, Steve got a job at Atari, which specialized in video games. His colleagues didn’t particularly like him, but his boss accepted his philosophical outlook on life well.
In 1974, Steve took a long trip to India in search of a spiritual guru. He was haunted by the thought that he was abandoned by his own parents after birth. But on the trip he contracted an illness and lost 15 kg. He returned seven months later and began practicing Zen Buddhism, and even experimented with psychedelics.
He returned to Atari and took on a large order there, again turning to Wozniak. It was necessary to eliminate as many chips as possible from the computer game circuit, and Jobs told Wozniak that the job needed to be done in 4 days.
Wozniak succeeded and made 45 chips instead of 170. Steve gave his friend $350, and he himself received another $350 and a bonus of $5,000. When he became famous, the story was leaked to the press and caused a stir.
In 1975, two friends began attending homebrew computer club meetings. In the wake of the computer revolution, Wozniak managed to display typed characters on the screen, and this was a breakthrough at that time. Jobs immediately became interested in the invention and proposed founding a company. To do this, he needed to sell his most valuable things - a minibus and a programmable calculator. But this led to the creation of a company that is still a symbol of quality today.
Apple
In 1976, friends founded their company and purchased the first batch of boards. When it came to the name, Jobs suggested the word Apple, since at that time he was a fruitarian and washed once a week. He often ate only apples, so the name was relevant to him.
The first computer Wozniak created was called the Apple I. After presenting it at a club meeting, they managed to receive the first order for 50 computers.
He had to take out a loan to buy components for this batch, and he recruited all his friends to create computers. A month later, a batch of Apple I was delivered to Paul Terrell.
This computer was the first to be supplied ready-made - the rest had to be assembled. Jobs hired employees, and although the “office” was located at his home, their clients believed that they were working with a large company.
In 1976, they created their second brainchild, the Apple II, a more advanced version of the computer. At this stage, Wozniak and Jobs had differences, and Jobs had to give in.
Then he realized that the design of the device was also important for buyers and began to work on this issue. They decided to reach a mass user who could simply come to the store and buy a fully equipped product.
Steve began looking for investors, but received many refusals. The reason was his informal appearance - he came to meetings barefoot, with long dirty hair and a beard. He could easily put his feet up on the table of his interlocutor, and it is not surprising that he was refused.
In 1977, he and two other friends transformed Apple Corporation and received 26% of the shares. They moved into an office, and at that time the company already employed more than a dozen people.
However, Jobs's informal lifestyle was at odds with his partners. He was very upset that he had to endure the opinions of other co-owners, he could throw a scandal and even cry.
He was especially upset that someone considered Wozniak higher than him, because it was Wozniak who created computers. However, without Jobs’ intervention, his invention would have been gathering dust on the shelves; it was Steve who gave him worldwide fame.
The company then began developing the Apple III, but the project was not successful. Steve then became interested in creating the Apple Lisa, named after his recently born daughter.
Several major projects followed, a confrontation with Xerox, the rise of the company and difficulties with other managers. Everyone noted Jobs's failure as a leader; he missed meetings, was disorganized, rude, and could not restrain himself at all. In 1985, he was fired from Apple and, as he later said, it was one of the best events in his life.
NeXT and Pixar
That same year, Steve recruited a new team and created NeXT. He invested seven million and received lawsuits from Apple, as he stole prominent employees from the company. However, the money quickly ran out, and he was never able to create a new computer.
It survived thanks to businessman Ross Perot's purchase of a 16% stake for $20 million. Only in 1989 did he manage to present his brainchild, but the computer cost $6,500 and was too expensive. He barely managed to develop the company, and in 1997 it was bought by Apple.
At the same time, he became interested in computer graphics because he met Ed Catmull. He headed the computer graphics department at George Lucas's company. Jobs bought this division for $10 million and began developing it.
The first successful cartoon attracted the attention of Disney, and in 1995 they released their first joint film, Toy Story. This cooperation still brings us box office and rating cartoons that are becoming very popular.
Family income
Steve earned the maximum amount of money from Apple. Every year, including 2021, the family receives 250 billion euros. The salary consisted of interest and shares. There were also other sources of income.
At the time of his death, the entrepreneur was included in the Forbes list. He took 39th place in the list of the richest people in the world. After the death of her husband, Lauren inherited everything that Steve earned. She was ranked 46th in Forbes in 2021. His fortune is estimated at $23 billion.
The creator of the Apple II was a generous man. Jobs was involved in charity work and sponsored many different projects. Jobs also sent $1.5 million a year to his parents. He thus thanked them for their upbringing and the money spent on education.
Return to Apple
In the mid-1990s, Jobs reached an impasse with his projects, as did Apple. The first conversation about returning took place in 1994, but the final decision was made on December 20, 1996.
Apple bought Jobs's company for $427 million, and he became the "eminence grise" of the combined company. There were massive layoffs; he even fired his mentor, with whom he built Apple. Over the course of the year, more than 3,000 employees were laid off and several projects were closed.
Jobs began working on several projects, including the iMac, iPod, iTunes, Apple Store, iPhone, iPad and others. As we already know, they brought unprecedented success to the company, because Jobs fought for the idea. He wanted people to have affordable, high-quality technology.
Steve himself supervised the creation of these gadgets and personally presented them. His last development was the iPad 2, and on June 6, 2011 he retired.
At that time, his fortune was equal to 7 billion dollars, he was a co-author of 312 different projects in the field of technology.
Revolution in the world of gadgets
In 2001, Steve introduced the first Apple player called the iPod. Later, the sale of this product brought the main income to the company, as the MP3 player became the fastest and most capacious player of that time.
The very first iPod
The first iPod had, firstly, a touch-sensitive scroll wheel, which was an extraordinary innovation at that time, and secondly, the player came with a memory capacity of 5 or 10 gigabytes. The slogan of the new product was: “A thousand songs in your pocket!”
Since then, the iPod has been released every year, and with each generation the storage capacity has increased. In 2004, the player got a color screen, and in 2005 it got the ability to play video. In 2006, a new line of iPod Classic was released, which was distinguished by a particularly large amount of memory - the most capacious iPod could load 160 gigabytes of music, photos and videos. Not every personal computer could boast such a hard drive capacity.
In parallel, since 2004, Apple released the iPod Mini (later transformed into the iPod Nano) and the ultra-portable iPod Shuffle, which lost its screen.
In 2007, the iPhone touchscreen mobile phone went on sale. This was not the first phone with a touch screen. For example, Ericsson released its first phone with a sensor already in 2000, long before the merger with Sony. In 2004, Philips released the 550 model with a touch-sensitive screen. Three years before the first iPhone, Nokia, at that time the flagship in the mobile device market, introduced the 7710 touchphone based on Symbian OS.
The first iPhone hit stores in the summer of 2007
The iPhone, released in June 2007 and retroactively dubbed the iPhone 2G, had a very responsive sensor, wireless connectivity, and no competing model had the same thin and sleek design. The iPhone had quite a few shortcomings, for example, it did not support 3G networks, but it had a separate OS that allowed you to download applications from the App Store.
Steve Jobs had a keen sense of what the customer needed
The iPhone 2G marked the beginning of the death of feature phones and the smartphone mania that swept the world. Since then, a new iPhone has traditionally been released every year (usually in the fall) and, despite the high cost compared to its competitors, it has consistently maintained sales levels. And already in 2008, Apple demonstrated the thinnest laptop on the planet, the MacBook Air.
Steve Jobs demonstrates iPhone to Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow
In 2010, Jobs introduced the iPad, an Internet tablet, which caused confusion among the public. However, Stephen's ability to convince the buyer that he needed this product raised tablet sales to 15 million copies a year. Subsequently, a smaller version of the iPad Mini was released, and in 2015, alas, without Steven Jobs, sales of the iPad Pro, a tablet with a larger screen diagonal, began. The developing market for mobile applications has made the iPad a full-fledged, and in many cases, a more convenient replacement for a laptop. Today, you can write music, take notes, draw, design, and more on your iPad.
Jobs had a keen sense of what the buyer needed, so he sought to create a miniature machine that could satisfy every whim of the modern user. Stephen's ideas were not always innovative; he skillfully used existing developments of others, but brought them to perfection and “packed them in a beautiful wrapper.” After his death, new Apple products like the Apple Watch were no longer revolutionary.
Steve Jobs presents the first iPad
Personal life and family
Having stopped walking barefoot and growing his hair long, Jobs still did not change his principles. He almost always wore a black turtleneck and blue jeans, emphasizing his love in simplicity.
His passion for Zen Buddhism helped him in his work - he gave great importance to simplicity and harmony, both inside and outside.
However, he was a rather difficult person to communicate with, and part of his internal conflict was related to the fact that he was abandoned at birth. Before Clara's mother died, he learned everything he could about his biological parents. Jobs found Joan and his sister Mona, who was born two years after his birth.
His parents eventually got married, but then divorced, and Mona also grew up without a father. Jobs did not want to meet his father and never met. He was very close to his sister.
Jobs's place of residence during his lifetime
The only place where Steven Jobs could be calm and in harmony with himself was his home in Palo Alto. The man lived there from the mid-90s until his death.
The genius lived in Santa Clara County. Housing built in Tudor style. The house is modest, and its area is 572 sq. m. Inside the apartment there are 5 bathrooms and 7 bedrooms.
The billionaire did not plan to buy a luxurious and expensive mansion. He liked his house with its lush garden. In a small plot near the house, Steven Jobs' wife grew herbs and vegetables.
Relationships with women
His first serious love was Chris Ann Brennan, because of whom he left home. They had a difficult and complicated relationship, so when Chris became pregnant, he did not accept the child. Only a paternity test with a result of 94% made him accept Lisa and take care of his daughter.
Afterwards he had several more serious affairs, but women had a hard time with him. His only wife was Lauren Powell. They met in 1989 and got married in 1991. In total, they had three children in their marriage - Reed, Erin and Eve.
Illness and death
In 2003, Steve was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He tried to overcome the disease with the help of alternative medicine, but to no avail.
Although he did not advertise his illness, colleagues noted how he had lost weight and was literally drying up before their eyes. Reports of his deteriorating health affected Apple's position in the international market, and rumors of his death repeatedly appeared.
In 2011, he finally admitted the problem and left his post as head of Apple. In June 2011, he announced his retirement, and on October 5 he died surrounded by his family. His last day passed peacefully, with his wife and children nearby. The press actively covered his death, and Apple shares fell in price.
Steve Jobs was an amazing person, very complex, multifaceted and brilliant. His colleagues and friends speak about him differently, but they all agree on one thing - he created the future for humanity.
Steve Jobs is a strict father
It is known that Steve Jobs forbade his children many things. For example, long-term use of iPhones. This is quite strange, because it seemed to many that the offspring of a famous entrepreneur were literally swimming in an abundance of expensive gadgets. However, Jobs believed that this was harmful to the child's body. Plus, there are so many other fun things to do, like sitting around the dinner table as a family and talking about the book you've read. Therefore, we can say with confidence that when Steve Jobs banned iPhones for his children, he was guided by good intentions.
