On September 17, 1985, Steve Jobs resigned as chairman of Apple to start a new company, NeXT. Apple sued. It said Jobs had lured five employees, “including senior engineers and marketers,” to join him. It also said he had “secretly planned” to compete with Apple “while pretending loyalty.”
Jobs called the suit “absurd.” “When someone calls you a thief in public, you have to respond,” he said. The suit was dismissed before trial.