Despite Apple being Job's company, the fact that is was public, meant that the Apple board had the power to oust him as CEO. And in 1983, they did just that. They didn't fire him though, they just sent him to "Siberia" (not literally of course, but he referred to the office he was put in as Siberia, illustrating well the fact that he was in some sort of exile.) Most Apple employees were probably pleased to see him go... He was notoriously difficult to deal with, and a former Apple employee described Jobs' attitude toward work as "management by character assassination." By 1985, he was tired of hanging out in Siberia and decided to leave the company he had founded and start a brand new one. "What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating," Jobs said of this experience. "I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me - I still loved what I did. And so I decided to start over." He started "NeXT Computer Company," which brought its first product to market in 1988. That computer, though, it had a price of $10,000, a price way higher than most consumer were willing to pay. Needless to say, it didn't sell well. It wasn't a good start for Job's fledging company and so he decided to shift the company to building software.

Pixar

But Jobs' focus was drawn elsewhere... somewhere rather unusual - the movies. In 1986, he bought Pixar from George Lucas. As part of his dream for this company, Jobs wanted to be responsible for the first movie done entirely with computer-animation. It took four years, but he eventually achieved that dream. That movie was Toy Story. It was released in November 1995 it became a favorite film for kids and adults, and to this day maintains a perfect 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes... A year after the release of Toy Story, there was even better news... Jobs took Pixar public and in something of a deja vu situation, his shares were worth one BILLION dollars after the first day of trading. This first day of trading was the first in a string of good days for Jobs. Shortly after Pixar went public, Apple put out the welcome mat for Steve Jobs to return. When he returned in 1997 the company was operating at a loss, and they needed Jobs' vision and drive back at the helm. Apple also announced that they would buy the struggling Next Computer Company - turning a previous failure of Jobs into a success ...

Return to Apple

Jobs triumphantly returned to the company that he founded. The company wanted him to bring Apple to the forefront of the personal computer market. Within months of his return, Jobs was named CEO. He paid himself a salary of only one dollar a year, and in exchange brought both business acumen and creative design ideas to the company. He negotiated a financial deal with Microsoft that brought Apple cash flow it needed to stay afloat, while helping Microsoft avoid the perception that they were a monopoly. Then, he envisioned the big idea that helped bring Apple back to profitability in its own right - the iMac. It was in 1998 that Apple released the brightly colored, egg-shaped desktop computer called the iMac. The iMac is even still made today... although it looks rather different today! From the iMac forward, Apple and Jobs just couldn't miss. They revolutionized the way people listen to music in 2001 with the iPod, and then the way they communicated in 2007 with the iPhone, and then were pioneers in the tablet market with the 2010 release of the iPad. Jobs once said of Apple, "We started out to get a computer in the hands of everyday people, and we succeeded beyond our wildest dreams." Today, it's nearly impossible to walk down the street without seeing someone with an Apple-made device in their hands.

Through these years of professional success, Jobs had still found the time to focus on his family. In 1986 his adoptive mother was diagnosed with lung cancer, and this, for the first time, prompted Jobs' interest in his biological parents. When his adoptive mother passed away, Jobs spoke to his father about contacting his birth parents, whose names he had on documents from his parents. Jobs met both his birth mother, Joanna Scheible, and his biological sister, Mona Simpson, shortly after his adoptive mother died. Scheible and Jobs' birth father had divorced in 1962 when the Syrian migrant opted to return to Syria after earning his PhD. When Jobs was introduced to Mona, she was still searching for their father. Jobs joined her in the search, and what they found out was surprising. Their father was not in Syria working in academia... Rather, their father was living in California and running a restaurant. Incredibly, Jobs said he had met the man Mona identified as their father, he had shaken his hand, had eaten in his restaurant... but never knew he was his father. Jobs had no interest in getting to know his father as he had gotten to know his mother and Mona, though, explaining his decision by saying, "I learned a little bit about him and I didn't like what I learned."

Sickness

Amidst all of the successes of the early years of the 21st Century, Jobs was not free from worry. And neither was Apple Computers. In 2003, Jobs received the news all of us dread - he had cancer. His doctors had found a cancerous tumor in his pancreas, and though operable it was a rare form of cancer... Jobs refused to listen to his doctors and have an operation right away, though. Instead he opted to explore other options, namely veganism and acupuncture. In 2004, with these alternative methods not improving his condition, Jobs opted to have the tumor surgically removed. Several cancer specialists have since said that period of waiting may have cost Jobs years of his life. In 2005, Jobs gave a commencement address at Stanford University that frankly and poignantly discussed his thoughts on life and death now that he had to confront the matter head-on. The fifteen minute speech reflected on three moments in his life that helped get him to where he was, and in telling those stories he imparted a message to the graduates - and to the world - to do what you love, remember you are going to die, and have trust in your inner voice.

"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything-all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart," he said. He closed the speech with simple words from the 1970s counter-cultural magazine The Whole Earth Catalog: "Stay hungry. Stay Foolish." The commencement address struck a chord around the world. It has been viewed over 27 million times on YouTube and serves as an inspiration, and a stark reminder of our limited time on Earth. It is a speech that truly every human can relate to, given by a man whose mind and drive were far more extraordinary than most humans...

Death

Jobs continued to work at Apple following the surgery, but in 2008 people began asking questions about his health as his appearance began to show his illness. He was gaunt, graying, and just didn't seem healthy. The company continued to explain this away... After questions were raised at one tech event Apple attributed his appearance to a simple bug and said he was taking antibiotics. Shareholders continued to worry, and in 2009 the truth came out - Jobs was suffering from ill health and ended up having a liver transplant. Tim Cook, Apple's head of Worldwide Sales, filled in as CEO while Jobs was recovering from the procedure. Jobs managed to return to his post and continued to be involved in the day-to-day operations of Apple with his prognosis being described as "excellent". But it was not to be. Only a year and a half after returning to the helm of Apple Jobs had to step down as CEO. In providing his reasons to the company's board, he stated: "I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple's CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come."

Though he stepped down as CEO and handed Tim Cook the reins of his company, Jobs did serve as Chairman of the Apple Board. Sadly, it was for only six weeks that he would work for Apple in this capacity. On October 4, 2011, Jobs lost consciousness. He stayed at home, surrounded by his family, and died of complications from his pancreatic cancer on October 5th. He was only 56 years old. The world greeted the death of this technology icon with shock and grief. California's Governor issued a proclamation for a Steve Jobs Day to be celebrated, and the companies with which he was associated all issued statements about the life, creativity, and innovation of their founder and partner. His family held a private funeral, the details of which are still unknown. In 56 years of life and 30 years in the tech industry, Steve Jobs was at the helm of guiding the world into the future. He was certainly a difficult man to deal with, but he was an innovator, a businessman, and a visionary whose ideas shaped the world we live in today.

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