During his hiatus from Apple, Jobs acquired Pixar Animation Studios from Lucasfilm and served as its CEO until it was acquired by Disney in 2006. He also founded NeXT Computer, a company that developed innovative hardware and software technologies.
Jobs' journey took him to Hewlett-Packard, where he met Steve Wozniak, a fellow electronics enthusiast. Together, they created the Blue Box, a device that could hack into the phone system and make free long-distance calls. This early experiment in innovation laid the groundwork for their future ventures.
In 1997, Apple acquired NeXT, and Jobs returned to the company he co-founded. He took over as interim CEO and led Apple's resurgence with a series of innovative products, including the iMac, iPod, iPhone, and iPad.