April 8, 1983: “Do You Want to Sell Sugared Water the Rest of Your Life?”

"Do You Want to Sell Sugared Water the Rest of Your Life?"

When the first President of Apple Computer, Michael "Scotty" Scott, lost favor over the Black Wednesday firings, Mike Markkula took over the duties of the Apple presidency. It wasn't a position that Markkula particularly desired.The search for someone who actually wanted to preside over Apple began almost immediately but it took longer than Markkula would have liked. After first being spurned by an IBM executive, Apple began recruiting John Sculley.

Stories about the ploys to entice Sculley into accepting the position are legion. Everything from animated Pepsi caps playing on a Mac prototype to the now famous question asked by Steve Jobs: "Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water or do you want the chance to change the world?" All of the efforts likely helped but, perhaps, the most persuasive was the compensation: a cool million as a signing bonus, another million as a yearly salary, 350,000 in stock options and, likely, all the Pepsi he could drink. Eighteen months after the wooing began it finally ended when John Sculley was named President and CEO of Apple Computer on April 8, 1983.