Michael Scott became Apple's first CEO in February 1977, hired by Mike Markkula after Scott's time at Fairchild Semiconductor. Scott brought corporate structure to the fledgling company, issuing numbered ID badges – Jobs famously became badge zero.

Despite this, Scott's tenure saw significant achievements, including Apple's transition out of the red within six months of the Apple II launch and the licensing of BASIC from Microsoft for $21,000. Apple went public on December 12, 1980, partly fueled by Steve Wozniak's generous stock giveaways, which pushed the company towards the necessary shareholder threshold. However, Scott's later reorganization placed Steve Jobs away from the Apple Lisa project, a decision Jobs later described as deeply hurtful. Scott's management style, marked by both corporate discipline and controversial decisions like banning typewriters, left a complex legacy as Apple navigated its explosive growth and internal conflicts.