I'm sure we've all heard it at least once: "Microsoft saved Apple from Bankruptcy in 1997." It refers to an investment Microsoft made in Apple that was announced at Macworld 1997, not long after Steve Jobs returned to the company.
But this depiction of events has been heavily mythologized over the years. The truth is, even though Apple was going bankrupt, they didn't need Microsoft's help to stay around. And today's video explains why!
There is no doubt that the rivalry between Microsoft and Apple is one of the longest standing in the tech industry. Many know that both companies are in the ‘billion-dollar’ club at present and lead the tech world in terms of market cap and influence. However, many may have forgotten that a few years before the dot com bubble in 2000, Apple was struggling and on the brink of bankruptcy.
In August 1997, Steve Jobs would announce something that would shape the trajectory of Apple’s future.
As part of the deal, Apple would agree to drop its lawsuit against Microsoft, which involved calling out that Microsoft had copied the look and feel of the Mac OS for Windows (among other patents).
The second part of the deal meant that Microsoft’s Internet Explorer was to become the default browser on Mac computers.