Accidental Millionaire: The Rise and Fall of Steve Jobs at Apple Computer

Through the story of Apple Computer in California's ""Silicon Valley,'' Butcher, sometime editor of regional business magazines, traces the evolution of electronic computation from room-size vaccuum-tube units to the pinhead-microchip integrated-calculator circuits that now govern industrial communication. Apple was a classic shoestring, garage-based partnership, comprising a quiet genius (Stephen Wozniak) and an offbeat go-getter (Steven Jobs), which within three years came to be worth over $1 billion. Venture capital, publicity and a well-timed stock issue brought millions to Apple's principals, but as Butcher tells it the enterprise was ill-prepared for success. Haphazard management, poor marketing judgment and Jobs's abrasive personality, the author holds, led to internal chaos and dissension, with reciprocal executive screaming, employees in tears and parking-lot fist fights. Eventually, investors forced the appointment of a traditional executive from Pepsico, John Sculley; Wozniak lost interest, and Jobs, aged 30, lost out. Photos. 20,000 ad/promo; first serial to California Business. (September)