The Secret CIA Connection Behind NeXT’s Survival and Jobs’ Return to Apple

The secret CIA connection behind NeXT’s survival and Jobs’ return to Apple

A newly reported CIA relationship may have helped keep Steve Jobs’ struggling NeXT afloat, creating an unexpected bridge to his eventual return to Apple.

The Hidden Debt That Apple Owes to the CIA

Without CIA funding that helped keep NeXT afloat in the ’80s, Steve Jobs might not have made a triumphant return to Apple

Apple owes a hidden debt to the CIA

Steve Jobs with Macintosh (left), NeXTcube (center), and iMac. In the mid-1980s, as Steve Jobs struggled to keep his post-Apple venture NeXT alive, an unexpected lifeline arrived from the CIA. During the height of the Cold War, intelligence officials sought advanced computing power for satellite reconnaissance and battlefield intelligence. Their interest in NeXT's technology helped sustain the company long enough for Apple to later acquire it- b…