Philip Houska Silicon Valley and virtually the entire technology world has been hit by sad news. At the age of 75, the iconic figure and mentor who, with his advice, moved technological leaders such as Steve Jobs, Larry Page, and Jeff Bezos to positions that guaranteed these individuals enormous admiration and recognition, died. Bill Campbell, among other important figures in the history of Apple, has died.
In the early morning hours of Monday, April 18, news broke on Facebook that Bill “The Coach” Campbell had succumbed to a long battle with cancer at the age of 75.
“Bill Campbell passed away peacefully in his sleep after a long battle with cancer. The family appreciates all the love and support, but requests privacy at this time," his family said.
Campbell became not only an important part of the careers of Larry Page (Google) and Jeff Bezos (Amazon), but was also involved in the functioning of Apple from 1983 to 2014, where he started as vice president of marketing. Despite the situation when he left Apple to become the CEO of Intuit, he returned in 1997 alongside the return of Steve Jobs and took a seat on the board of directors.
Bill Campbell believed in Apple when few people did. We'll miss his wisdom, friendship, humor & his love for life. RIP pic.twitter.com/HA7hYgGxNM
- Tim Cook (@tim_cook) 18. April 2016
During his professional career, he also worked at companies such as Claris and Go and coached American football at Columbia University, his alma mater. At Apple, "The Coach" had a significant role and became an integral part of this giant.
He had a close relationship with then-CEO Steve Jobs and watched his moves from an early age. “I watched him when he was general manager of the Mac division and when he left to found NeXT. I saw him grow from being a creative entrepreneur to running a company,” he said Campbell in an interview for the server Fortune in the year 2014.
He expressed his grief on Twitter alongside current Apple CEO Tim Cook (see above) i marketing chief Phil Schiller and the Californian firm devoted an entire main page to its prominent member on Apple.com.
