Steve Wozniak quits active employment at Apple

On 06/02/1985, Apple co founder Steve Wozniak resigned from his active employment at Apple Inc., ending his day to day involvement with the company he helped establish in 1976. Although Wozniak remained a shareholder and retained an informal association with Apple, the decision marked his departure from operational responsibilities. He announced plans to pursue independent projects, including the formation of a new company called CL 9, which focused on developing consumer electronics. Wozniak cited dissatisfaction with Apple’s direction as a factor in his departure. He stated that the company had been moving away from the engineering driven culture of its early years and expressed concern about management priorities. Wozniak also noted frustration regarding the treatment of the Apple II division, which continued to generate a large portion of Apple’s revenue during the mid 1980s but received less emphasis compared with the Macintosh initiative. His interests remained centered on hands on engineering, and he indicated a preference for designing new products rather than participating in corporate management. Following his departure, Wozniak founded CL 9, which later introduced the CORE remote control, one of the early programmable universal remote devices. While no longer involved in Apple’s daily operations, Wozniak maintained a public association with the company and continued to be recognized as one of its co founders. His resignation came months before Steve Jobs also left Apple later in 1985, during a period of leadership changes within the company.