Steve Jobs Bio: The Unauthorized Autobiography by J.T. Owens

Author:J.T. Owens
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: apple, steve jobs, apple ipad, apple computers, steve jobs biography, steve jobs autobiography, apple iphone, steve jobs quotes

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After Gil resigned I got a call from Apple’s board of directors asking me to return to Apple as their CEO, we’d just taken Pixar public, and I was happy being CEO there so I declined. I never knew of anyone who served as CEO of two public companies, even temporarily, and I wasn’t even sure it was legal. They then asked me to become chairman, and I again declined. I had no plans to leave Pixar. I told them, “I will help. I will be an advisor. Unpaid. That’s all I can give now.”

I was enjoying spending more time with my family. I was torn. I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I knew Apple was a mess, so I wondered: Do I want to give up this nice lifestyle that I have? What are all the Pixar shareholders going to think? I talked to people I respected. I finally called Andy Grove at about eight one Saturday morning – too early. I gave him the pros and the cons, and in the middle he stopped me and said, “Steve, I don’t give a shit about Apple.” I was stunned. It was then I realized that I do give a shit about Apple – I started it and it is a good thing to have in the world. I felt the world would be a better place with Apple in it than not. And it’s hard to imagine the world without Apple now. That was when I decided to go back on a temporary basis to help them hire a CEO.

During the negotiations when Apple wanted to buy NeXT, Apple said it would pay me 1.5 million shares in stock--which was about a sixth of my share of the purchase price--and the rest in cash. There was a catch: They wanted it to be unregistered stock so I couldn't sell it for six months. It was a big mistake, and here's why. At the end of six months they had to register the stock with the SEC as they promised. When they did, the business press assumed I was preparing to sell, even though I hadn't even thought about selling. When that all blew up, I thought, "Gee, Apple's taking a big PR hit on this. If I sell in three or six months, there will be a second hit, so I might as well sell now.” This was, by the way, before the Apple board began to twist my arm to come back and run the company. Gil was still running the place. So I was also thinking, "Do I really want this $20 million worth of stock when I think the company is going to be worthless in a year?”. So I sold it, I pretty much had given up hope that the Apple board was going to do anything. I didn't think the stock was going up. Literally within a few days, I got a call from Apple director Ed Woolard to discuss coming back.

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