It should surprise no one that former Apple CEO Steve Jobs is still the subject of much talk and adulation, despite his recent departure as CEO of Apple. Google Chairman and former CEO Eric Schmidt is no different, citing Jobs as “probably the best” CEO of the last 50-100 years. Schmidt himself is no stranger to Apple, having served on the board of directors as well as finding himself at the center of Apple’s ongoing love/hate relationship with Google over the past decade. According to BBC, Schmidt said, “Mr Jobs deserved the praise because he built Apple into a powerful corporation not once, but twice.” He refers, of course, to Jobs’ departure from Apple in 1987 when John Sculley kicked him to the curb after establishing Apple as a power brand, and then his return in 1996, first as a member of the Apple board of directors (like Schmidt) and then as CEO.
It’s no surprise that Schmidt (whether happily or begrudgingly) heaps such praise upon Jobs; he’s brought Apple back from near collapse to being the biggest company in the world (bye bye, Exxon) and introduced many of the biggest products the company’s ever had the pleasure of selling: The iMac, iPhone, iPod, iPad, iTunes and the upcoming iCloud service. Products so well-loved, in fact, that Jobs has been all but forgiven for putting “i” in front of everything in sight.