Steve Jobs in Exile: The Untold Story of NeXT, and the Remaking of an American Visionary
Geoffrey Cain
May 2026 · Penguin Random House Audio
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About this audiobook
The Untold Story of Steve Jobs's Wilderness Years—and the Creation of a Legend
In 1985, Steve Jobs—the brilliant, volatile founder of Apple Computer—walked out of his company's headquarters, fired from the very corporation he had created. What happened next would transform not only his life and career, but the future of technology itself.
For twelve years, from 1985 to 1997, Jobs wandered the business wilderness with his new venture, NeXT. It was a period of spectacular failures, near-bankruptcy, and brutal humiliation. But out of this crucible of defeat emerged the visionary leader who would go on to create the iPod, iPhone, and iPad, transforming Apple into the most valuable company on earth.
Drawing on previously unpublished materials and new interviews with the key players, Geoffrey Cain reveals the untold story of Steve Jobs's "lost decade"—the formative years that shaped the icon we thought we knew. With unprecedented access to unbroadcast footage of Jobs in NeXT meetings, private company documents, and interviews with his closest colleagues, Cain offers the definitive account of how failure transformed a brash wunderkind into a true business genius.
This is the story of how Steve Jobs learned to lead, how he discovered the power of focus, and how a spectacular failure became the foundation for one of the greatest comebacks in business history. It is nothing less than the missing piece in the legend of Steve Jobs.
In 1985, Steve Jobs—the brilliant, volatile founder of Apple Computer—walked out of his company's headquarters, fired from the very corporation he had created. What happened next would transform not only his life and career, but the future of technology itself.
For twelve years, from 1985 to 1997, Jobs wandered the business wilderness with his new venture, NeXT. It was a period of spectacular failures, near-bankruptcy, and brutal humiliation. But out of this crucible of defeat emerged the visionary leader who would go on to create the iPod, iPhone, and iPad, transforming Apple into the most valuable company on earth.
Drawing on previously unpublished materials and new interviews with the key players, Geoffrey Cain reveals the untold story of Steve Jobs's "lost decade"—the formative years that shaped the icon we thought we knew. With unprecedented access to unbroadcast footage of Jobs in NeXT meetings, private company documents, and interviews with his closest colleagues, Cain offers the definitive account of how failure transformed a brash wunderkind into a true business genius.
This is the story of how Steve Jobs learned to lead, how he discovered the power of focus, and how a spectacular failure became the foundation for one of the greatest comebacks in business history. It is nothing less than the missing piece in the legend of Steve Jobs.
About the author
Geoffrey Cain is an award-winning author and former foreign correspondent who sits down with world leaders, tech founders, and dissidents at pivotal moments in history—intimate conversations that grew into his acclaimed books Samsung Rising and The Perfect Police State. Samsung Rising was longlisted for the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year, while The Perfect Police State was named NPR's "Book of the Day" and received a citation for the Cornelius Ryan Award from the Overseas Press Club. A sought-after voice on business and technology, Cain appears regularly on CNN, Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times, and advises executives and government leaders on innovation and strategy.
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