Image rights: Apple Inc.
STEVE JOBS HAS been posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States. The medal was presented to Steve’s widow Laurene Powell Jobs by US President Joe Biden. The citation reads in part: “His vision, imagination, and creativity led to inventions that have [changed], and continue to change, the way the world communicates, as well as transforming the computer, music, film, and wireless industries.” The award comes exactly 25 years after Steve returned to Apple in July 1997, although he did not officially become “interim CEO” until September of that year. He died of pancreatic cancer in October 2011.