When Steve was forced to leave Apple in 1985, he did a few things:
He founded NeXT, which, although it didn’t dent the PC market was still able to play a significant role in computing - Tim Berners-Lee created the World Wide Web on a NeXT machine. And today’s macOS is actually a distant cousin to the NeXTSTEP OS. That OS paved the way for Steve’s return to Apple.
He also revolutionized moviemaking by taking over Pixar from Lucasfilms. I don’t think Pixar needs an introduction. Steve invested in Pixar right after his departure and nurtured it through the hard times, investing up to $50 million of his own money. It culminated with the release of Toy Story in 1995, one of the first computer animated film, and a critical & commercial success. Thanks to the successes, Disney bought out Pixar for $ 7.4 billion 20 years after Steve’s first investment, turning him into Disney’s single largest shareholder.