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Apple Turns 50: the 7 CEOs Who Built It and Who Comes Next

As Tim Cook nears retirement age, Apple’s next CEO will inherit a legacy shaped by Steve Jobs, John Sculley and decades of reinvention.

When you think of Apple, you probably picture Steve Jobs, the visionary behind its revolutionary designs, or Tim Cook, the soft-spoken Southerner who turned Apple into a global business powerhouse. But in the company’s 50-year history, seven people have held the top job. The lineup ranges from Apple’s first CEO, Michael Scott (no, not that one), who once banned typewriters in the office, to John Sculley, the executive who famously ousted Jobs in the 1980s.

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As Apple marks its 50th anniversary today (April 1), it remains one of the world’s most valuable and influential tech companies, far removed from its humble 1976 beginnings in a California garage. Whoever becomes its eighth CEO will inherit a massive legacy.

Here’s a look back at every leader who’s shaped Apple over the past five decades:

Michael Scott (1977 to 1981)

Michael Scott was Apple’s first CEO, chosen because co-founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak were seen as too inexperienced to lead. Mike Markkula, one of Apple’s earliest investors and a former colleague of Scott’s at Fairchild Semiconductor, recruited him for the role.

Leaving his post as director of manufacturing at National Semiconductor, Scott set an early tone of disruption—famously banning typewriters in Apple’s offices—and oversaw the company through both rapid growth and internal tension. He’s best remembered for “Black Wednesday,” a mass layoff in 1981 that cut about half of the Apple II engineering team.

Scott departed soon after, later heading satellite startup Starstruck and reinventing himself as a celebrated gem collector. His collection, worth tens of millions of dollars, was showcased in museums and documented in Light & Stone: Highlights From the Scott Gem Collection. Scott died on April 12, 2025, at age 80.

Mike Markkula (1981 to 1983)

After working at Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel, Markkula became one of Apple’s earliest believers and its first major investor after a visit to Steve Jobs’ garage. He invested $250,000 to help launch the company, served as its inaugural chairman in 1977, and succeeded Michael Scott as CEO in 1981.

Markkula stepped down two years later but stayed on Apple’s board until 1997. He later co-founded ventures such as Echelon Corporation and supported numerous causes, including Santa Clara University’s Markkula Center for Applied Ethics.

John Sculley (1983 to 1993)

When Steve Jobs recruited PepsiCo’s John Sculley, then fresh off the wildly successful Pepsi Challenge campaign, he sealed the deal with a now-famous question: “Do you want to sell sugar water for the rest of your life, or come with me and change the world?” Sculley accepted, becoming Apple’s CEO in 1983.

His decade-long tenure brought major milestones, including the debut of the first Macintosh, but also internal conflict. Sculley’s power struggle with Jobs led to the co-founder’s removal from the Macintosh division in 1985 and, indirectly, his exit from the company.

Amid mounting costs and a string of product missteps, Sculley left Apple in 1993. He now serves as chairman and chief marketing officer of the health tech firm RxAdvance.

Michael Spindler (1993 to 1996)

German executive Michael Spindler succeeded John Sculley as Apple’s CEO in 1993 after climbing the company’s European ranks to become its regional president. A former DEC and Intel veteran, he oversaw both notable wins, like the PowerPC launch, and setbacks, such as the Newton and Copland operating systems.

Before his 1996 departure, Spindler reportedly held takeover talks with potential buyers, including Sun Microsystems. He died on Sept. 5, 2016, at age 73.

Gil Amelio (1996 to 1997)

Gil Amelio’s tenure as Apple CEO was the shortest in company history—just one year, starting in 1996. The former National Semiconductor chief oversaw the launch of Mac OS 8 and orchestrated Apple’s $400 million acquisition of NeXT, bringing Steve Jobs back into the fold.

After Apple’s stock fell to a 12-year low, Amelio was forced out. He later co-founded the acquisition firm Acquicor Technology with Steve Wozniak and turned his attention to venture capital.

Steve Jobs (1997 to 2011)

The man most synonymous with Apple didn’t become CEO until 1997. After being ousted in the 1980s, Steve Jobs founded NeXT and served as CEO of Pixar Animation Studios before returning to rescue the company he helped build. One of his first moves was to slash Apple’s bloated product lineup and refocus on innovation and design.

Recognizable by his black turtleneck and exacting leadership style, Jobs oversaw the creation of landmark products like the iPod, iPhone, iPad and iTunes, transforming Apple from near-bankruptcy into a global tech powerhouse. He stepped down as CEO in August 2011 due to cancer and died two months later, on Oct. 5, 2011, at age 56.

Tim Cook (2011 to present)

Tim Cook stepped into the CEO role in 2011, succeeding Steve Jobs after more than a decade at Apple. He joined the company in 1998 as senior vice president of worldwide operations, later leading the Macintosh division and serving as chief operating officer. Before Apple, Cook worked at Compaq, Intelligent Electronics and IBM.

Under Cook’s leadership, Apple has introduced major products like the Apple Watch and AirPods, shifted to in-house silicon, and launched its A.I. initiative, “Apple Intelligence.” The company’s market value has soared from $350 billion in 2011 to over $3.7 trillion today.

Cook’s mild-mannered style is often contrasted with Jobs’s intensity, but longtime Apple executive Phil Schiller sees them as more alike than different. “Both Steve and Tim are two of the hardest working people I’ve ever met in my life—24/7, 365, they’re working,” Schiller said at SXSW this month. “They put the company first, not themselves personally.”

As Cook approaches 66 this year, speculation about his successor is growing. Hardware chief John Ternus is viewed as the leading candidate, thanks to two decades at Apple and an increasingly public presence at product launches. Other possible contenders include software head Craig Federighi, services leader Eddy Cue and marketing chief Greg Joswiak. Whoever steps into the role will face the challenge of steering Apple through the A.I. era, global supply hurdles, and another half-century of innovation.

SEE ALSO: A.I. Is Overhyped Yet Underappreciated, Says DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis

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