Steve Jobs

American entrepreneur; co-founder of Apple Inc. (1955–2011)

Fame90.3
Momentum21.8
Global rank#57

Source-basedStable

Fame90.3
Momentum21.8
Global rank#57
United States rank#15
Founders rank#4
Wikipedia490.8K

Lived 1955–2011, aged 56United States

United States FoundersFounder

Wikipedia
172 languages
Cross-language footprint
Global rank
#57
Fame.am leaderboard
Era
1955–2011
Aged 56
Known for
Toy Story
1995

Summary

Updated 2026-08-31

He returned Apple from near-bankruptcy to cultural dominance by wedding minimalist design to mass desire — the iMac, iPod, iPhone, and iPad didn't just sell, they rewired how people related to machines.

Biography

About

Born in San Francisco in 1955 and adopted shortly after, Jobs attended Reed College in 1972 before dropping out, then traveled through India in 1974 seeking enlightenment. He co-founded Apple with Steve Wozniak in 1976; the Apple II made them both famous and wealthy a year later as one of the first mass-produced microcomputers. After seeing the mouse-driven Xerox Alto in 1979, Jobs pushed for the Macintosh, released in 1984 as the first mass-produced computer with a graphical interface, launching desktop publishing with the LaserWriter in 1985. Fired by Apple's board that same year after a pow…

Voice

In their own words

Sourced, dated quotes from Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs

said1 Sep 1986

They're babes in the woods. I think I can help turn Alvy and Ed into businessmen.

— On Pixar co-founders Alvy Ray Smith and Edwin Catmull, as quoted in TIME magazine (1 September 1986)

Steve Jobs

said30 Sep 1985

It is hard to think that a $2 billion company with 4,300-plus people couldn't compete with six people in blue jeans.

— On Apple's lawsuit against him, following his resignation to form NeXT, as quoted in Newsweek (30 September 1985)

Steve Jobs

saidFeb 1985

Woz and I very much liked Bob Dylan's poetry, and we spent a lot of time thinking about a lot of that stuff. This was California. You could get LSD fresh made from Stanford.

— interview in Playboy magazine (February 1985)

Steve Jobs

said1985

You're ripping us off! I trusted you, and now you're stealing from us!

— Steve Jobs reactions on Microsoft Windows 1.0 (1985)

Steve Jobs

said24 Jan 1984

We're gambling on our vision, and we would rather do that than make "me too" products. Let some other companies do that. For us, it's always the next dream.

— Interview about the release of the Macintosh (24 January 1984) - (online video)

via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA

Gallery