Steve Jobs joined Apple as an advisor after Apple acquired NeXT in 1997.
Apple purchased NeXT in a deal announced in December 1996 and completed in early 1997. The acquisition brought NeXT’s operating-system technology and many of its engineers into Apple, while Jobs returned to the company he had co-founded.
He initially became an advisor, but his influence quickly expanded. In July 1997, Apple’s board removed chief executive Gil Amelio, and Jobs became interim CEO. He later accepted the permanent chief executive role, guiding Apple through a major product and business transformation.
NeXT’s software formed the foundation for Mac OS X, which later evolved into macOS and influenced Apple systems including iOS. The acquisition therefore connected Jobs’s years away from Apple directly to the company’s later operating-system strategy.