Steve Jobs Biography to Be Released in 2012, Publisher Says
April 11, 2011, 4:27 PM EDTBy Alex Sherman
(Updates with closing shares in ninth paragraph.)
April 11 (Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs’s biography, drawn from three years of interviews with the executive, will be published in early 2012, according to CBS Corp.’s Simon & Schuster.
The book, called “iSteve: The Book of Jobs,” will be based on interviews that author Walter Isaacson has held with Jobs and his family, the publishing company said in an e-mailed statement yesterday. Isaacson, who’s written biographies of Albert Einstein and Benjamin Franklin, also interviewed colleagues at Apple and competitors, it said.
“This is the perfect match of subject and author,” said Jonathan Karp, publisher of Simon & Schuster, calling Jobs “one of the world’s greatest innovators.”
This is the first biography Jobs has authorized, according to Simon & Schuster spokeswoman Tracey Guest. Several unauthorized biographies of Jobs have been released, including “iCon: Steve Jobs, The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business,” published by John Wiley & Sons in 2005, and “The Second Coming of Steve Jobs,” published by Random House Inc. in 2001. “iSteve” may focus on the past three years, marked by Jobs twice stepping away from daily operations at Apple to focus on his health. Jobs, 56, announced he had pancreatic cancer in 2004.
Health Issues
In early 2009, when Isaacson first began his interviews, Jobs announced he would cede day-to-day control of Apple to Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook. Months later, Jobs confirmed he had had a liver transplant, allowing him to return to work. The following year, Apple unveiled the iPad and the iPhone 4, which helped it surpass Microsoft Corp. as the world’s largest technology company.
This year, Jobs again gave Cook operational control to attend to his health. Although still on leave, Jobs made an appearance last month in San Francisco to release the iPad 2.
Jobs founded Apple in 1976 as a 21-year-old with Steve Wozniak and Ron Wayne. He left the company in 1985 to start NeXT Inc., rejoining Apple 12 years later when Apple acquired NeXT for $400 million in cash, stock and debt.
Apple’s board announced that Jobs would assume “an expanded role” running the company on July 9, 1997, to coincide with the resignation of Gilbert Amelio as CEO after shares of the Cupertino, California-based company fell to an 11-year low. Apple’s market value at the time was $3.15 billion, compared with a market value of $306.8 billion today. Apple is the third- largest company in the world behind Exxon Mobil Corp. and PetroChina Co.
Jobs was named interim CEO of Apple on Sept. 16, 1997, with shares closing that day at $5.48. Since then, Apple has risen 60-fold. Apple fell $4.26 to $330.80 in Nasdaq Stock Market trading at 4 p.m. New York time, and has gained 2.6 percent this year.
Simon & Schuster didn’t disclose terms of book deal. Steve Dowling, a spokesman for Apple, didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment. CBS rose 17 cents to $24.44 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading and has climbed 28 percent this year.
--With assistance from Adam Satariano in San Francisco. Editors: Niamh Ring, Lisa Rapaport
To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Sherman in New York at asherman6@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Thomas Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net; Peter Elstrom at pelstrom@bloomberg.net
