This is the story of Apple told by its CEOs

Tim Cook is CEO of Apple, the most valuable company in the world. This will be nothing new for many. Today, however, it has achieved something that few probably knew: 4,249 days. And what does that mean? so what has already overtaken Steve Jobs as the longest-serving CEO in Apple history.

Tim Cook has been at the helm for almost 12 years and it doesn’t look like he’ll be moving anytime soon. Next to Steve Jobs, his character is the most well-known of Apple. However, Behind the company are many other employees, partners, investors and CEOs. At Applesfera, we wanted to round up the company’s great executives alongside Tim Cook and Steve Jobs, highlight their most relevant events and look for curious facts about their lives.

Michael Scott (1977 – 1981): the first of them all

Michael Scott was Apple’s first CEO, although he was not known to be the founder. His nickname was “Scotty” and he ran the company for 1,466 days. The most famous product released during his tenure was the Apple II. This was one of the first successful products, although it is not clear what his real involvement in the project has been since then launched just months after Jobs appointed him CEO.

An oddity regarding his tenure is that Jobs decided to fire him on April 1, 1981, so did some employees, and legend has it that even himself, they thought it was a joke. Turns out it wasn’t a joke. His dismissal was very true, and although he was offered another position, he left the company a few months later.

John Sculley (1983 – 1993): the one who fired Steve Jobs

We talked about Sculley a while back in Applesfera. Jobs hired him after he worked at PepsiCo and was considered a marketing genius. The most important product he released during his tenure was the Macintosh. Furthermore, as a relevant fact, forced Steve Jobs to leave the company which he had founded himself and which he left some time later due to low sales and the zero innovations that arose under his mandate.

Curiously, he was hired after one of Steve Jobs’ most mythical phrases: “Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugar water, or do you want to come with me and change the world?” Sculley chose to change the world, although after he ousted Jobs from Apple Things weren’t as expected.

Michael Spindler (1993 – 1996): “The Diesel”

Spindler was Apple’s CEO for almost three years. During his time in the company did not achieve great things. He attempted to buy another company, make arrangements with others, and reverse the company’s financial situation, which continued to deteriorate. In addition, his market share continued to decline, which inevitably forced him to resign.

Gil Amelio (1996 – 1997): the one who changed everything

Gil Amelio was Apple’s fourth CEO, and willingly or unwittingly, he not only solved it, he hit the key, and it’s been uphill from there. The most relevant event of his tenure was the acquisition of NeXT, which led to the development of macOS and, above all, the return of Steve Jobs, who knew how to give Apple the necessary 180 degree turn.

His tenure was the shortest of any CEO. However, if we look at it coolly, it was perhaps one of the most important. He couldn’t reverse the poor results of those from Cupertino, but it was his decision to acquire NeXT that brought Jobs back and that Apple is now the most valuable company in the world. Would it be a calculated move or the highest paying bet ever?

Steve Jobs (1997 – 2011): second part

With the purchase of NeXT, Steve returned to run what had been his company. The one that was taken from him. He did so as “iCEO” (the i was interim) for three years until they confirmed him as the new official CEO in 2000. I think there is little to say about Jobs. It launched the iPod, iPhone, iPad, etc. Changing the world, that’s for sure. It’s very possible that if Apple hadn’t returned then, Apple wouldn’t exist today, or at least not the way it is now.

Tim Cook (2011–present): the entrepreneur

Cook is the businessman. He is the one who was able to shape all of this. The one who knew how to standardize everything, maximize profits, grow fast but controlled, until he made Apple the most valuable company in the world. Of course, Jobs gave him a large part of the way, but his role was not easy, and it is true that many would have failed in this endeavor.

He took over the CEO position in 2011 when Steve resigned due to health reasons. He was a good friend of Jobs and it shows in some of his decisions. You never ask, “What would Steve do?” because it would be tied to the past, but It is undeniable that his mentor’s legacy is still there..

Steve Jobs and Tim Cook: the two titans

Although we’ve talked about both of them before, I think they deserve a special mention. Steve and Tim are two people who They knew the best way to get along. The first was a visionary, the second an entrepreneur with a lot of business acumen.

Jobs knew how to define the what and why of Apple. He knew what the reason for his existence was, what had to be and what had to come. Maybe Cook doesn’t have this vision that Steve had back then. He didn’t know exactly what needed to be accomplished, but he knew how to map out a roadmap. Something that might have cost Jobs more.

Steve knew where to go and Tim Cook knew how. That’s why this duo worked so well. Now there is only one left, but he still knows what the ultimate goal is and he executes it perfectly. There’s still a long way to go, many rocks to trip over, and many decisions to make, but if the goal of all of this was to change the world, Apple’s CEO seems to be doing just fine .

“Change the world” sounds pretty utopian. It is very difficult to do. Some would say it’s like trying to reach the horizon: impossible. It may be true, I don’t have an answer to that. Yet even if it is impossible to reach the horizon, whoever goes to reach it will always go, and will always go forward.

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