The Story of Steve Jobs (1955 - 2011)

The Story of Steve Jobs (1955 – 2011)

Updated on January 24th, 2024 by Quertime Team in People

On October 5, 2011, Steven Paul “Steve” Jobs, former CEO of Apple, died in California at age 56, seven years after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He was a visionary, pioneer and genius in the field of business, innovation, and product design, and a man who had profoundly changed the face of the modern world. His death was widely mourned and considered a huge loss to the world.

In today’s post, we would like to share with you the story of this legendary visionary. We’ve collected many great photos and amazing videos about him which would definitely be inspirational and motivational to you all. Indeed, Steve Jobs has not only changed the world with his innovative products and memorable quotes, but also with his stories of life and careers.

We appreciate if you can share your thoughts about Steve Jobs in the comment section below. Looking for more? Check out the following posts about Steve Jobs we’ve previously published:

1955 – Jobs was born and adopted
Jobs was born in San Francisco to Joanne Carole Schieble, an American of Swiss and German ancestry, and Abdulfattah John Jandali, a Syrian, both graduate students. Jobs was placed for adoption after Schieble’s father opposed their marriage. He was adopted by the family of Paul Jobs and Clara Jobs who later moved to Mountain View, California.

Steve Jobs’ biological father

1972 – Jobs dropped out from college
Jobs attended high school in Cupertino, California. He frequented after-school lectures at the Hewlett-Packard Company in Palo Alto, California, and was later hired there, working with Steve Wozniak as a summer employee.

Young Steve Jobs in the middle

Following high school graduation in 1972, Jobs enrolled at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. Although he dropped out after only one semester, he continued auditing classes at Reed, while sleeping on the floor in friends’ rooms, returning Coke bottles for food money, and getting weekly free meals at the local Hare Krishna temple.

Jobs’ high school graduation

1974 – Jobs works as a technician at Atari, Inc.
In 1974, Jobs took a job as a technician at Atari, Inc., a manufacturer of video games, with the primary intent of saving money for a spiritual retreat to India.

Young Steve Jobs

1974 – Jobs becomes a Buddhist
Jobs travelled to India to visit Neem Karoli Baba with a Reed College friend Daniel Kottke, in search of spiritual enlightenment. He came back a Buddhist with his head shaved and wearing traditional Indian clothing.

1976 – Apple is founded
In 1976, Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne founded Apple, with later funding from a then-semi-retired Intel product-marketing manager and engineer A.C. “Mike” Markkula Jr.

Apple co-founders Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs

1983 – Pepsi-Cola president serves as Apple’s CEO
In 1978, Apple recruited Mike Scott from National Semiconductor to serve as CEO for what turned out to be several turbulent years. In 1983, Jobs lured John Sculley away from Pepsi-Cola to serve as Apple’s CEO, asking, “Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life, or do you want to come with me and change the world?”

Steve Jobs, John Sculley and Steve Wozniak

1984 – Jobs introduces Apple Macintosh to the world.
The Macintosh became the first commercially successful small computer with a graphical user interface.
Below video is Apple’s famous “1984” commercial for Macintosh.

1985 – Jobs was fired from Apple
An industry-wide sales slump towards the end of 1984, caused a deterioration in Jobs’s working relationship with Sculley as well as layoffs and disappointing sales performance. An internal power struggle developed between Jobs and Sculley has caused Jobs being removed from his managerial duties as head of the Macintosh division. Jobs resigned from Apple 5 months later.

Steve Jobs and John Sculley, the former CEO of Apple

Jobs later claimed that being fired from Apple was the best thing that could have happened to him; “The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.”

1985 – Jobs founded NeXT Computer
After leaving Apple, Jobs founded NeXT Computer in 1985, with $7 million. NeXT workstations were first released in 1990, priced at $9,999. Like the Apple Lisa, the NeXT workstation was technologically advanced, but was largely dismissed as cost-prohibitive by the educational sector for which it was designed.

Steve Jobs founded NeXT Computer

1986 – Jobs founded Pixar
In 1986, Jobs bought The Graphics Group (later renamed Pixar) from Lucasfilm’s computer graphics division for the price of $10 million. After years of unprofitability selling the Pixar Image Computer, it contracted with Disney to produce a number of computer-animated feature films that Disney would co-finance and distribute. The first film produced by the partnership, Toy Story, with Jobs credited as executive producer, brought fame and critical acclaim to the studio when it was released in 1995.

Pixar & Toy Story 2

1996 – Jobs returns to Apple
In 1996, Apple announced that it would buy NeXT for $429 million. The deal was finalized in late 1996, bringing Jobs back to the company he co-founded. He was formally named interim chief executive in September. In March 1998, to concentrate Apple’s efforts on returning to profitability, Jobs terminated a number of projects.

1997 – The Microsoft Deal at Macworld Boston
Steve Jobs and the almost bankrupt at the time Apple Computer making a temporary deal with Bill Gates and Microsoft. This was one of the most intelligent decisions that Jobs made upon his return to Apple.

1998 – Jobs introduces the very first iMac.
The iMac helped set the standard for the modern Apple even as we know it today.

2001 – The First iPod Keynote
Steve Jobs introduces the very first iPod at a low key event. The premise behind the iPod was simple – 1,000 songs in your pocket.

2004 – Jobs diagnosed with pancreatic cancer
In mid-2004, Jobs announced to his employees that he had been diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in his pancreas. Jobs stated that he had a rare, far less aggressive type tumor. He resisted his doctors’ recommendations for evidence-based medical intervention for nine months, instead consuming a special alternative medicine diet to thwart the disease, before eventually undergoing a reconstructive surgery in July 2004, that appeared to successfully remove the tumor. During Jobs’s absence, Timothy D. Cook, head of worldwide sales and operations at Apple, ran the company.

2005 – Steve Jobs presents the iTunes Phone.
This was Steve’s first attempt to bring “iPod phone”-like product to the market in the form of Motorola’s Rokr after the iPod started to achieve massive success in 2003 and 2004.

2005 – Steve Jobs’ Stanford Commencement Speech
Steve Jobs delivers his commencement speech to the graduates of Stanford University in 2005. In it he talked about getting fired from Apple in 1985, life and death.

2007 – Jobs introduces revolutionary iPhone
Steve Jobs announces the new iPhone. The revolutionary iPhone has changed the entire mobile industry.

2007 – Steve Jobs and Bill Gates together
In their rare joint appearance at All Things Digital 5, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates discuss their contributions to the technology industry, the qualities they most respect in one another.

2008 – Jobs loses significant weight
Jobs loses significant weight which causes speculation that his cancer had returned. Investors wanted full disclosure of jobs’ health status, since the company’s share price is tied somewhat to the health of the company’s iconic CEO.

Jobs loses significant weight

2009 – Jobs undergoes liver transplant
In April 2009, Jobs underwent a liver transplant at Methodist University Hospital Transplant Institute in Memphis, Tennessee. Jobs’ prognosis was “excellent”.

2010 – Jobs introduces iPad
The success of iPad has created a seismic impact on education, publishing, media consumption and computing in general.

2011 – Steve Jobs’ last Keynote
This probably was Jobs’ last presentation introducing iOS 5 and iCloud.

The photo above shows how attached he is to his wife, Lauren Powell Jobs and he probably knew that this was his last keynote address.

2011 (August 24) – Steve Jobs resigns as Apple CEO
Apple’s Board of Directors announced that Steve Jobs has resigned as CEO of the company. Apple’s Chief Operating Officer, Tim Cook, has been named Jobs’ successor.

“I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.” Jobs said in letter to the board.

2011 (October 5) – Steve Jobs Dies at 56
A day after the news of the release of the iPhone 4S, the Apple co-founder passes away on October 5, at age 56. This marks the end of a legendary visionary’s journey. Job’s health had been slowly declining since 2004, when he announced his fight against pancreatic cancer.