2023-08-26 12:10:22
When we think of the beginnings of Apple, the name of Steve Jobs immediately comes to mind, followed by that of Steve Wozniak for connoisseurs. But in the vast majority of cases, the third strong man of Apple, the one without whom the company would probably never have taken off in the 80s, is not even mentioned.
Because yes, if Apple was indeed founded by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak – and Ronald Wayne, who quickly sold his shares for fear of being liable on his personal assets for the debts of the company, so his role is today passed over in silence -, the firm at the apple might never have become the first company in the world to exceed the 3,000 billion dollars of valuation without the intervention of another, Mike Markkula.
He is considered the third strong man of Apple, first of all for having believed in the Apple II project, but for the roles he played in the company.
Present to see the magic happen
Markkula was no stranger to the tech world before meeting Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. Armed with a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California, the man held the position of marketing director at Fairchild Semiconductor, an American manufacturer of transistors and integrated circuits, and at Intel. At only 33 years old, thanks to good technology investments, he took early retirement.
But the meeting with two ambitious young men will make him return to the office. Markkula offered invaluable advice to Jobs and Wozniak, including the need to transform Apple into a real company, but above all became an Apple angel investor.
It is thanks to him and his $250,000 that the Cupertino company was able to obtain new loans and continue its work on the Apple II. This is why he is now considered the third strong man of Apple.
An angel investor, Markkula owned a third of the company. Shares which, at present, would be worth approximately 900 billion dollars. But the man, following helping Apple in its early days, especially during difficult times, with the management of the eccentric Jobs, his departure from Apple, then his return, resumed his retirement and left the presidency of Apple in 1997.
A considerable impact
Markkula has not only been an angel investor and a good advisor. As an engineer by training, he had technical skills and wrote several early programs for the Apple II. He also served as a beta tester for company products and software. But above all, he brought a mature perspective to the duo of Jobs and Wozniak, 13 and 8 years younger than him.
His impact on the company did not stop there as he replaced Michael Scott as CEO from 1981 to 1983 and served as Chairman of the Board of Apple from 1985 to 1997. Markkula ably led Apple when the company was in troubled waters. He played a pivotal role in preserving the Macintosh Project and opposed Jobs when the latter tried to derail it in favor of his own Project Lisa.
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