Apple was co-founded by Steve Jobs in 1976.
Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne established Apple Computer Company in Los Altos, California. Its first product, the Apple I, was a kit assembled by Wozniak and sold through the Byte Shop. The Apple II later helped make personal computers more accessible and commercially successful.
Apple became one of the world's most valuable companies through products including the Macintosh, iPod, iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch, alongside services such as the App Store. Its market capitalization has repeatedly placed it among the global leaders, although rankings change as share prices move.
A common mix-up is that Wayne was an original co-founder but left the company in 1976. Jobs returned to Apple in 1997 after years away and oversaw the product strategy that led to the iMac and later the iPhone.