My Influential Media Figure

Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs is the co-founder, CEO and chairman of Apple, inc. He was also the CEO of Pixar Animation until it sold to the Walt Disney Company in 2006 for $7.4 billion. This made Jobs the single largest shareholder of Walt Disney with 7% of the companies stock, even more than the Disney family member Roy. E Disney who has 1%.

Apple Computer Co, was founded as a partnership between Steve Jobs and Steven Wozniak on April 1, 1976 and in Decemeber 1980, Apple became a publicly traded corporation making Jobs a multi millionaire.

After the development of the Macintosh, Jobs was unfortunately relieved of his duties as the head of the Macintosh division by John Scully.

From 1986 to 1996, Jobs run the company NeXT Computer, which even though it was technologically advanced was never able to break into the mainstream because it was so expensive. NeXT was bought by Apple in 1996 for $429 million, which put Jobs back in the CEO position.

From 2000 onwards, Apple has branched out into portable music playing with the production of the iPod, the iTunes music software and the iTunes store. Apple also released the iPhone in 2007 seeing it moving into the mobile phone industry.

Jobs works at Apple for an annual salary of $1, which has earnt him the title in the Guinness World Records as the "Lowest Paid Chief Executive Officer". However he has been given "executive gifts" from the board of Apple, including a $46 million jet. This low annual salary also reduces his tax liability.

Jobs is well known for his charismatic speaking style. He was also involved in trying to persuade Al Gore to run for the 2008 Presidential elections.