Steve Jobs: 1955 - 2011

On 5 October 2011, the technology industry lost one of its leading visionaries. Steve Jobs' passing leaves Apple without its longest serving and most successful chief executive. Under his leadership, the company went from the verge of bankruptcy to become one of the most successful corporations on the planet.

His tenure saw the company produce products that helped to revolutionise the home computer, personal media player and smartphone markets. In the process, Apple amassed a market capitalisation of more than $320bn.

Jobs, along with partners Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne, co-founded Apple in 1976. Long-time hobbyists, Jobs and Wozniak started by selling home computer kits to other hobbyist builders.

In that time, Jobs began to build his reputation as a tireless salesman and skilled leader.

"Steve had dreams of being a great person, like Shakespeare and Einstein, who are well known throughout the centuries," Wozniak said of Jobs. "Every time I would make a computer he would want to sell it."

The company put its name on the map in 1977, when the Apple II personal computer was released. Though the Apple II would become a standard in the home and educational computer fields, Jobs would soon look to aggressively develop a replacement for the system.

He helped to lead the group that developed Apple's first graphical user interface (GUI) systems. Jobs oversaw development of the ill-fated Lisa platform and then headed up work on Macintosh, the computing platform that would become the basis of Apple's business for the next two decades.

Jobs was forced out of the company in 1985 following conflicts with Apple's new corporate management. He set out on his own, establishing software and systems firm NeXT.

In the mid-1980s Jobs also helped to plant the seeds of another company that would change the home entertainment sector. He was among the group to found a small computer animation studio in the Bay Area city of Emeryville.

The company, named Pixar, would pioneer the computer animation space with titles such as Toy Story, Monsters Inc. and Finding Nemo. Pixar was eventually purchased by Disney for more than $7bn.

In 1996, Jobs returned to Apple, finding the company on the verge of bankruptcy and lacking clear direction. After cutting a controversial investment and licensing deal with long-time rival Microsoft, Jobs and Apple began work on the next generation of the Macintosh platform.