Fifty years ago, on April Fools' Day 1976, two friends—a scrawny hippie and a nerdy engineer—signed a two-page partnership document in a Los Altos garage, founding Apple Computer Co. Steve Jobs, a 21-year-old college dropout, and Steve Wozniak, a 25-year-old Hewlett-Packard employee, each took a 45% stake, while adviser Ron Wayne received 10%. Wayne soon sold his share for $2,300, a decision that would have been worth $370 billion today given Apple's $3.7 trillion market value.
Apple's first major success came in June 1977 with the Apple II, priced at $1,298 (about $7,000 today). The company went public in 1980 at $22 per share (10 cents adjusted for splits), meaning $2,200 invested then would be worth over $5.5 million now. In 1984, Jobs unveiled the Macintosh, introducing the mouse and graphical interface, but its $2,500 price tag limited sales, leading to layoffs and a power struggle with CEO John Sculley that forced Jobs out in 1985.
After Jobs left, Apple struggled against Microsoft's cheaper PCs, despite popular Mac models. A seven-year legal battle over the Mac's graphical interface ended in 1994 with a Supreme Court defeat. Sculley was fired in 1993, and subsequent CEOs Michael Spindler and Gil Amelio failed to reverse losses. Amelio's only lasting move was a $428 million deal for NeXT, the startup Jobs founded after leaving Apple.
In 1997, Apple fired Amelio, and Jobs returned as interim CEO, later taking the helm. He masterminded a string of innovations—the iPod, iPhone, and iPad—that transformed technology and culture. The journey from a garage startup to a global titan redefined how the world interacts with computers, cementing Apple's legacy as a cultural and technological force.
