6 of 10
BACKNEXT
Return of the prodigal son
Return of the prodigal son
Dec. 20, 1996
Apple drifted after Steve Jobs left, making uninspired computers and losing market share. The company seemed to be headed for bankruptcy when it bought NeXT for its NeXTSTEP operating system and got Jobs in the bargain. The board, having lost confidence the management team, ousted its CEO and gave the position on an interim basis to Jobs for a nominal salary of $1 a year.

Determined to make Apple profitable again, Jobs quickly terminated several high-profile projects, including the Newton, Cyberdog and OpenDoc. Leaning heavily on Jonathan Ive, a British-born industrial designer he found in Apple's design department, Jobs introduced a series of distinctive products with a fresh new look, including the Bondi blue iMac, the tangerine iBook and the minimalist white iBook G3.

In 2000 he dropped "interim" from his title and began jokingly referring to himself as Apple's permanent iCEO.

NEXT: The iPod and the music industry
Last updated November 05 2009: 7:49 AM ET
Email | Print | Share  |  RSS
 
google my aol my msn my yahoo! netvibes
Paste this link into your favorite RSS desktop reader
See all CNNMoney.com RSS FEEDS (close)
Why Steve Jobs? He revived Apple and remade entire industries, defying the worst economic conditions since the Great Depression -- and his own serious health problems. More
Timeline: Steve Jobs' greatest hits See his early struggles and recent victories, and how investing in Apple stock has paid off. More
Celebrities' favorite iPhone apps Stars from Rachael Ray to Neil Patrick Harris reveal the apps they love to use. More

Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.