Apple was founded in 1976 by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne to design, manufacture and sell personal computers. After many years of turbulence and losing market share to competitors like IBM and Microsoft, Steve Jobs resigned from Apple in 1985. He returned as CEO in 1997 and implemented widespread changes that turned the company around, leading to quarterly profits. Since then, Apple has continuously released innovative products that have established it as one of the most valuable companies in the world.