John Sculley: His Journey from One Company to the Next

John Sculley was the president of Pepsi Cola before he took the reins as CEO of Apple in 1983. During the early years of his tenure at Apple, he was able to increase the company’s sales to $8 billion from $800 million before he took over. This achievement, however, was overshadowed by the company’s downturn after Apple’s board unceremoniously ousted its founder Steve Jobs. Scully believed he was painted to be the bad guy and that the company’s problems began after the same board that ousted Jobs, let go of him as well because of a costly mistake.

After Apple, Sculley continued doing business but encountered some bad luck along the way. He became the CEO of Spectrum Information Technologies in 1994, but resigned when he found out that the company was being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission for fraud even before he signed on with the company. This led to a lawsuit being filed by Sculley against Peter Caserta, Spectrum’s president for damages made to his reputation. He had several other successful business ventures after that, but otherwise kept a low profile.

One of Sculley’s newest projects is a mobile phone company in India and the Middle East. His new company, Obi Mobiles, is a mobile phone manufacturer that makes smartphones that run on the Android platform. Although Obi is not in direct competition with his former company’s iPhone, the idea of cheaper phones that have the same functionality as the more expensive ones like the one Apple makes can make the people behind the iPhone and other high-end phones a little bit nervous.

Obi is now India’s fastest growing mobile phone company in India. Aside from managing his companies, Sculley also speaks at symposiums and events. He shares his wisdom gathered from decades of experience and expertise in business.