Thursday, October 6, 2011

Steve Jobs, 1955-2011

With the news yesterday that Apple founder and longtime CEO Steve Jobs had passed away, there was also a sense that we might never see the likes of this sort of business titan again. Unlike his contemporary, Bill Gates of Microsoft, Jobs not only founded Apple (and was fired by his hand-picked successor) but remained critical to the day-to-day operations of the company, nearly to the end of his life. It's hard to think of another American business that was so innovative and influential - and successful - due to the efforts of one man.

Here's a quick timeline of Jobs' life work:

April 1, 1976: Steve Jobs co-founds Apple Computer.

December 1980: Apple goes public in the biggest IPO since Ford Motor in 1956, with a market valuation of $1.8 billion.

January 24, 1984: The Macintosh goes on sale to the public.

May 1985: Jobs is fired from Apple. The company's split-adjusted stock price is about 2.5.

1996: Apple announces it has bought Jobs' company NeXT, bringing him back to the fold.

September 16, 1997: Jobs becomes CEO of Apple once again. The company's split-adjusted stock price is 5.4.

November 10, 2001: The iPod goes on sale to the public. Apple's share price is at 9.

June 29, 2007: The iPhone goes on sale to the public. Apple's share price is at 122.

October 5, 2011: Steve Jobs dies. Apple's share price is at 377. Its market cap of $350 billion makes it the second-largest corporation in America after ExxonMobil.

If you had bought 100 shares of Apple on the day Steve Jobs was re-introduced as the company's CEO, your $540 investment would now be worth $37,700.

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