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Armas Clifford Markkula, Jr.

Russian: Армас Клиффорд Марккула, младший
Also Known As: "Mike"
Birthdate:
Birthplace: Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, United States
Immediate Family:

Son of Armas Clifford Markkula, Sr. and Katherine Rose Markkula
Husband of Private
Father of Private and Robert Markkula

Occupation: Electrical engineer, businessman, investor
Managed by: Private User
Last Updated:
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Immediate Family

About Mike Markkula

Mike Markkula

Armas Clifford "Mike" Markkula Jr. is an American electrical engineer, businessman and investor. He was an angel investor and the second CEO of Apple Computer, Inc., providing critical early funding and managerial support.

Markkula was introduced to Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak when they were looking for funding to manufacture the Apple II personal computer they had developed, after having sold some units of the first version of this computer, the Apple I. With his guidance and funding, Apple ceased to be a partnership and was incorporated as a company.

Jeffrey Nordling portrayed him in the 1999 TNT film Pirates of Silicon Valley. Dermot Mulroney later portrayed him in the 2013 film Jobs.

Early life

Markkula's great-grandfather, Isak Ferdinand Markkula, was born in Sievi, Finland. He and his wife moved to the United States in either 1865[ or 1883, depending on the source. Mike Markkula's first name Armas and last name Markkula are traditional Finnish names. His first name Armas means "dear" or "beloved" in the Finnish language.

Markkula earned Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California.

Career

He made millions on stock options he acquired as a marketing manager for Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel, able to retire at 32.

Apple

He was lured out of retirement by Steve Jobs, who was referred to him by Regis McKenna and venture capitalist Don Valentine. Valentine - who after meeting the young, unkempt Jobs asked McKenna, "Why did you send me this renegade from the human race?" - was not interested in funding Apple, but mentioned Jobs' new company to Markkula. Jobs visited Markkula and convinced him of the market for the Apple II and for personal computers in general.

In 1977, Markkula brought his business expertise along with $250,000 (with $80,000 as an equity investment in the company and $170,000 as a loan) and became a one-third owner of Apple and employee number 3.

Steve Wozniak, who designed the first two Apple computers, credits Markkula for the success of Apple more than himself.

He helped the new company obtain credit and venture capital, brought in Michael Scott as the first president and CEO, then took the job himself from 1981 to 1983 despite having promised his wife that he would only stay at Apple for four years, and that he would retire by 1984.

Markkula served as chairman from 1985-97, when a new board was formed after Jobs returned to the company. As chairman he approved Jef Raskin's 1979 plan to start designing what would become the Macintosh, then prevented Jobs from killing the project in favor of his own Lisa.

In 1985, Markkula took John Sculley's side in a dispute with Jobs, causing the latter to leave the company; he would later help to force Sculley out in 1993.

In addition to providing what The New York Times later described as "adult supervision" to the younger Jobs and Wozniak, as a trained engineer Markkula also possessed technical skills. He wrote several early Apple II programs, served as a beta tester for Apple hardware and software, and wrote one of the first three programs available for the unsuccessful Apple III. Wozniak was motivated to design the Disk II floppy disk drive system after Markkula found that a checkbook-balancing program he had written loaded too slowly from a data cassette. Markkula retired from Apple after Jobs returned as interim CEO in 1996. He supported Jobs' 1997 return.

After Apple

After he retired from Apple, he went on to work at Echelon Corporation, ACM Aviation, San Jose Jet Center and Rana Creek Habitat Restoration and to endow the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, where he chaired the board. Markkula was also on the board of trustees of Santa Clara University from 2003 to 2009.

Markkula was an investor in Crowd Technologies, a startup developing a web application called Piqqem that applies the wisdom of crowds to stock market predictions. He is an investor in Scotland-based LiveCode, Ltd.

Über Mike Markkula (Deutsch)

Mike Markkula

Armas Clifford „Mike“ Markkula ist ein US-amerikanischer Unternehmer und war von 1981 bis 1983 CEO von Apple.

Markkulas Vorfahren stammen aus Finnland und wanderten im 19. Jahrhundert in die Vereinigten Staaten aus.

Markkula studierte Elektrotechnik an der University of Southern California. Er war Business Angel und gleichzeitig der erste Investor von Apple. Mit seinen eingebrachten 250.000 US-Dollar hielt er zwischenzeitlich 26 Prozent der Firmenanteile. Des Weiteren ist er der Gründer der Echelon Corporation. Das Markkula Center for Applied Ethics an der Santa Clara University wird von ihm gefördert, diese Universität hat ihm auch ein Ehrendoktorat verliehen.

Literatur

Owen W. Linzmayer: Apple confidential 2.0: The definitive history of the world's most colorful company. No Starch Press, San Francisco 2004.

Acerca de Mike Markkula (Español)

Mike Markkula

Armas Clifford "Mike" Markkula Jr. es un empresario que proporcionó financiación para fundar Apple Computer.

Markkula hizo millones en acciones que adquirió como gerente de ventas de Intel y Fairchild Semiconductor, y se retiró a los 32 años.

Dejó a un lado su jubilación tras visitar a Steve Wozniak y Steve Jobs en su garaje. En 1977, Markkula aportó su experiencia en los negocios y un cheque de 250 000 dólares al capital de Apple y se hizo de una tercera parte de ésta. También trajo al primer presidente de Apple Computer, y luego tomó el trabajo él mismo desde 1981 hasta 1983.

Wozniak, cofundador de Apple y quien virtualmente inventó las dos primeras computadoras de la compañía, dio crédito del éxito de Apple a Markkula, más que a él mismo.

About Mike Markkula (suomi)

Mike Markkula

Armas Clifford (”Mike”) Markkula, Jr. on yhdysvaltalainen pääomasijoittaja ja yksi tietokoneyhtiö Applen perustamisvaiheen rahoittajista. Markkula loi omaisuutensa henkilöstöoptioilla 1960- ja 1970-luvuilla markkinointipäällikkönä Intelillä ja Fairchild Semiconductorissa.

Vuonna 1976 Markkula sijoitti 80 000 dollarin alkupääoman ja antoi 170 000 dollarin lainan Steve Jobsin ja Steve Wozniakin perustamaan Appleen, joka oli tuolloin vielä pieni autotalliyritys. Sijoituksellaan Markkula sai haltuunsa kolmanneksen yhtiön osakkeista.

Markkula toimi yhtiön toimitusjohtajana vuosina 1981-1983 ja hallituksen puheenjohtajana vuoteen 1997 saakka.

Markkula jätti Applen hallituksen vuonna 1997. Aktiivisen työuransa lopetettuaan hän on toiminut hyväntekeväisyyden parissa yhdessä Linda-vaimonsa kanssa.

Amerikansuomalaisen Markkulan juuret ovat Sievissä Pohjanmaalla, josta hänen isovanhempansa muuttivat Yhdysvaltoihin vuonna 1883.

Kunniamerkit:

Suomen Leijonan ritarikunnan komentajamerkki ansioista tietotekniikan pioneerina; 2024


О Майке Марккуле (русский)

Майк Марккула

Армас Клиффорд Марккула-младший (англ. Armas Clifford Markkula, Jr.), известный как Майк Марккула, — американский предприниматель, являвшийся «бизнес-ангелом» и вторым CEO компании Apple.

Он был представлен Стиву Джобсу и Стиву Возняку, когда те искали средства на производство персонального компьютера Apple II, после того как было продано несколько единиц первой версии этого компьютера — Apple I. При руководстве и финансировании Майком Марккула Apple перестала быть партнерством и была зарегистрирована как компания.

Биография

Марккула получил степень бакалавра и магистра в области электротехники в Университете Южной Калифорнии. Он заработал миллионы на опционах акций, которые приобрел, будучи менеджером по продажам в Fairchild Semiconductor и Intel, после чего в 32 года оставил работу по найму.

Библиография

The Journey is the Reward, биография Джеффри Янга, охватывающая жизнь Стива Джобса вскоре после того, как он основал компанию NeXT, имеет богатую, тщательно исследованную информацию о Марккуле в течение почти двух десятилетий работы в Apple.

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Mike Markkula's Timeline

1942
February 11, 1942
Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, United States
1974
July 21, 1974
Santa Clara, Santa Clara County, California, United States