Apple Fires Steve Jobs Because Running Tech Empire Is Hard, Who Knew
KEY POINTS
- •In 1985, John Sculley removed Steve Jobs from Apple, citing Jobs' unpreparedness to lead the company.
- •Jobs spent over a decade away from Apple, often described as being 'in the wilderness' during this period.
- •Jobs returned in 1997 to rescue Apple, transforming it from near-bankruptcy to a tech giant.
In 1985, Apple CEO John Sculley threw founder Steve Jobs out like last year's floppy disk, claiming Jobs was 'completely unprepared' to run the company—because who expects a visionary to master quarterly earnings on day one? Jobs then spent over a decade 'in the wilderness'—which wasn’t a Zen forest retreat but more like a Silicon Valley timeout corner. Meanwhile, Apple gulped bankruptcy fear cocktails until 1997, when surprise! Jobs returned from exile like a tech messiah, turning the floundering fruit into one of the world's most valuable companies. So no, Sculley didn’t ruin Apple alone; it was more like a corporate soap opera starring a rebellious genius.
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(1 of 3)Apple’s entire 90s saga is just proof that sometimes firing your questionable genius founder only makes the chaos season 2.
John Sculley firing Steve Jobs was less a business move and more a 'hold my beer' moment for Apple’s future dysfunction.
Firing Steve Jobs in ’85 is like cutting off your Netflix subscription right before the final season of the greatest show ever.
Source: Theverge | Published: 3/31/2026 | Author: Jason Snell
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