How much was Steve Jobs worth?
| Net Worth: | $10 Billion |
|---|---|
| Profession: | Entrepreneur |
| Date of Birth: | February 24, 1955 (aged 56) |
| Country: | United States of America |
| Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
About Steve Jobs
Together with Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs founded Apple (1976), which soon became one of the leading companies in the field of hardware and software production computer elements. Eight years later, the company launched the Macintosh, the legendary computer that followed Apple’s meteoric rise to this day.
Jobs was worth over $1 million in 1978, when he was just 23 years old. His net worth grew to over $250 million by the time he was 25, according to estimates. That said those estimates are paper gains because until Steve actually liquidated Apple stock it was all tied up with the company. To make it real you have to sell the stock, pay your taxes and then you realize your gains. This is as true for an entrepreneur as it is for a stock trader.
In fact in 1985, after Steve Jobs was ousted from the company that he had founded. He later decided to liquidate all of his Apple stock leaving just 1 share in the company so that he would still be entitled to attend public shareholder events. If the recount by Walter Isaacson in his book Steve Jobs is accurate, and my memory serves, the total amount of realized gains from selling all but one share of his Apple stock, was $100 million.
Steve Job’s net worth wasn’t only achieved through his shares in Apple, Inc. however. In fact he originally became a billionaire through the purchase and taking public of Pixar, the computer animation company that brought us Toy Story, Frozen and Finding Nemo.
Steve Jobs left behind the most valuable company in the world recently passing $1 trillion dollars in valuation.
Steve Jobs has transformed seven industries during his lifetime: the personal computer industry, animated films, music, phones, tablets, retail, and digital publishing.
In 1975, Steve began attending the Homebrew Computer Club with Steve Wozniak. A year later, Wozniak constructed the Apple 1 computer. When he showed it to Jobs, he wanted to sell it, this started the two on a historical journey making them some of the youngest and most successful millionaires of their generation.
Steve worked hard to find a sponsor to support their vision. Mike Markkula, Intel’s marketing manager and engineer, decided to finance Apple. Then Wozniak and Jobs started working on the development of a better Apple computer called the Apple 2, which was first shown in 1977 at the computer fair.
The computer was the first to be released by Apple.
On January 24, 1984, Apple introduced the Macintosh. Although the Macintosh was extremely popular and kept the attention of consumers, it was too expensive. After the failure in the market, Wozniak left Apple, because he thought that the company had not been going in the right direction for several years.
On September 17, 1985, Steve, along with several technicians and engineers, resigned and after selling all his Apple shares for $100 million dollars at the time, founded a new company called NeXT. NeXT operated from 1988 to 1996, when Apple bought it for $429 million plus 1.5 million shares of Apple stock.
This was a major turning point for both Steve Jobs and Apple. Apple Inc had been performing terribly since Jobs left the company and was seriously looking as if the once thriving company was going out of business. Fortunately, as we all of course know now, that was not in store for the Apple computer company. In fact with Jobs’ return to the corporation Apple was about to make a beeline to become one of the highest grossing company’s of all time.
Steve Jobs bought Graphic Group in 1986, which he later renamed Pixar. He soon signed a contract with Disney to produce feature animated films. The first animated film produced as a product of this alliance was Toy Story (1995). Over the next ten years, the company produced a series of high-budget animated hits, such as: A Bug’s Life (1998), Toy Story 2 (1999), Monsters, Inc. (2001), Finding Nemo (2003), The Incredibles (2004), and more.
Finding Nemo and The Incredibles won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film, which began in 2001.
In 2006, Disney decided to buy Pixar for $7.4 billion. When the agreement reached, Steve became the largest independent shareholder of Disney and a certified billionaire.
Combining an understanding of what is technologically feasible, but also the art of presenting the vision enabled the products created according to Steve’s idea to reach the peak of stylization, equipment, and use-value.
Jobs was the manager of a grand vision. For example, in 2000 the personal computer merged to become a “digital hub” for storing music, videos, photos, and filed content. He developed the iPod and iPad, alongside the computers to create an “Eco-system” of products.
Apple then created a huge cloud server (iCloud) to store all this content and exchanges. And all the while, during the set up and realization of this magnificent vision, Jobs was concerned about every tiny detail. Even down to the arrangement of circuit boards inside the devices as well as the shape and color of the screws for the iMac.
Researchers have always wondered why Apple products have long taken a leading position in the global electronics market, leaving all competitors far behind. Answering this question, it is impossible not to include Steve Jobs as lead on the list of reasons why Apple’s products are so great. Jobs has always attached great importance to the look and interface of his devices. Apple products are unique and cannot mix with any other brand. Instead users often buy into the Eco-system of products instead, adding to their Macbook purchase for example with an iPad for music and and iPhone for everything else.
Steve was always thinking a few steps ahead and trying to anticipate consumer desires. Like when he brought out the iPad… Nobody thought they needed one until they used it, and soon couldn’t live without one.
Steve Jobs was an extraordinary leader, which enabled Apple Computer to become the most respected brands on the planet. His leadership traits changed the traditional laws of corporate business and whilst caused friction, outputted some of the highest grade products.
Jobs created a bushwhacking team of talented people around specific products and worked together to perfect the design, user experience and finished product. He was involved in every detail and specifically demanded of his team to build the perfect product, on the inside and out.
Summing-Up
Steve Jobs was a leading entrepreneur, a multi-billionaire, but one who preserved business ethics. This leadership style understands someone with a strong will to take risky actions, with a high degree of enthusiasm, quick reactions to the opportunities provided, and a strong desire to succeed.
Jobs knew that new value, wealth, and fame in the 21st century could best be created by combining creativity and technology, so he built a company in which creative steps were combined with outstanding engineering achievements.
These features are consistent with the characteristics of a transformational leader, a leader who brings positive changes in the team, organization, and society. This is seen in Steve Jobs especially leading to the huge success and wealth achieved in a very short period of time.
Steve Jobs achieved all this by providing a clear vision and defined borders, as well as creating an environment that encouraged employees to make an effort with a vision for the company’s success. As well as creating an opportunity for employees to see the company as their own and commit to its success.
At the time of his death in 2011, Steve Jobs had a net worth estimated to be $10 billion dollars. That’s the equivalent of about $12.498 billion in 2022 dollars after adjusting for inflation.
