History of Apple's Finances???

[solrac]

I was reading about the 1984 commercial. Apparently, back in 1984, Apple and Steve Jobs, and Wozniak, had enough money to pay $400,000 themselves to pitch in to the advertising costs of this commercial. Even of 2 million dollars total. Just 6 or 7 years before that, Steve Jobs was making his very first computer for $666.66, like the first ever Apple remember? His very beginnings in business.

So this is sort of confusing. Wasn't there a period where Apple was small, and didn't have the big bucks yet? Or was Steve Jobs born rich, and always had millions of dollars at hand since childhood?

Or was Apple small for maybe just a year or two, then got huge investments all at once?

What year was Apple a real small business and what year did they first have over a million dollars in assets?

 

[Pengu]

check out http://www.apple-history.com

 

[Arden]

Apple was small before they hit the big time with the Apple II.

 

[MisterMe]

Apple was small before they hit the big time with the Apple II.

My God, man, what are you talking about? Apple was small? Compared to what? The Apple II, introduced in 1977, was the microcomputer revolution. In the same time frame, Radio Shack introduced the TRS-80 Model 1, Commodore introduced the PET, and numerous small companies introduced CP/M machines. But, the Apple II was the first personal computer that could be used by a non-hobbiest. To say that Apple was small until it introduced the Apple II is the automotive analogy of saying that Ford was small until it hit the big time with the Model T.

 

[solrac]

OK I've read about it.

I guess Apple was small in 1976 when Steve Jobs first put together his first computer with Steve Wozniak.

But by 1979 (when I was born) Apple had thousands of employees.

That's millions and millions of dollars withing THREE YEARS! So obviously, Apple did not start from the ground up. Some big time investors must have given Jobs and his team millions of dollars in big investments in the late 70s, and took a lot of stock. However, I never read anything about who invested and how much of Apple they own.

 

[mrfluffy]

read infinite loop by michael malone, cool book.

 

[mony_1950]

Do you remember the Apple II? It generated many dollars through 1992.

 

[MDLarson]

I bought the "Mac Bathroom Reader," and found it to be a interesting read when number-twoing.

 

[MDLarson]

Actually, I heard from EVERYBODY that Apple's going out of business or was bought out by Microsoft or something...

 

[fryke]

What was that, MDLarson? Just majorly off-topic non-usable commenting or posting to the wrong thread?

I think Apple simply went very big very soon after "Apple ignited the computer revolution" (as they say themselves below every press release) "in 1976 with the Apple II". The 700 bucks for the first machine maybe was a little easier, and if you believe in something, you might shell out even more, no? And actually, that number was the money you would have to PAY for an original Apple II, not what it cost them to build.

When Apple went public, both founders were millionaires quite fast, so that's where the money came from. Nothing conspiracy-worthy, I think.

 

[MDLarson]

What was that, MDLarson? Just majorly off-topic non-usable commenting or posting to the wrong thread?

Eh, I was sort of responding to mrfluffy's book suggestion. I'm just in a good mood today I guess.

 

[dave17lax]

Go rent startup.com http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0256408/ [imdb.com]. It is a great example of how much money can be gathered in a short time. Of course it is about the dotcom bust, so you know that it's also about LOSING it all as well. Its real finer points are about the relationships rather than the business side, pretty cool documentary.


I'm not saying that this is how Apple did it, only that is an interesting look into that world. ::love:: ::love::

 

[Randman]

Anyone know what Jobs is worth these days? You always hear about Gates' wealth, but not Jobs? I guess he's on the Forbes list. ...

http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/main_news.cfm?NewsID=6930

Apple and Pixar CEO Steve Jobs has moved up 44 places to become the 78th richest American, according to the Forbes 400 list.
His net worth has climbed $700 million in the last year, reaching $2.3 billion. In 2002 Jobs was ranked number 122 with $1,6 billon, up 36 places from 2001 when he was ranked 158 with $1.4 billion.

Answered it myself. I guess he could pay for the iPod being added to the 1984 commercial all by himself these days.

 

[Arden]

As well as all of us having QT Pro licenses.

Just think, Jobs would be worth a lot more if he made an actual salary from Apple. Those billions come from the hits... you know, Toy Story, Finding Nemo, etc.