Armas Clifford "Mike" Markkula Jr. (; born February 11, 1942) is an American electrical engineer, businessman and investor. He was the original angel investor, first chairman, and second CEO for Apple Computer, Inc., providing critical early funding and managerial support. At the company's founding, Markkula owned 26% of Apple, equivalent to each of the shares owned by cofounders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. Early life Markkula's great-grandfather, Isak Ferdinand Markkula, was born in Sievi, Finland. He and his wife moved to the United States in either 1865 or 1883, depending on the source. Mike Markkula's first name Armas and last name Markkula are traditional Finnish names. His first name Armas means "dear" or "beloved" in the Finnish language. Markkula earned Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California. Career Markkula made millions from stock options he earned as a marketing manager for Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel, reaching financial independence and early retirement at 33. After that, he became a startup consultant and mentored dozens of entrepreneurs, working only every Monday. Apple Markkula was introduced by Regis McKenna and venture capitalist Don Valentine to Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak while they were looking for funding to manufacture the Apple II personal computer they had developed after having sold some units of their first computer, the Apple I. Jobs and Wozniak had previously gone to McKenna and then Valentine, but neither was originally interested in the Apple pair; after meeting with the young and unkempt Jobs, Valentine asked McKenna, "Why did you send me this renegade from the human race?" However, Valentine forwarded their information to Markkula, who proved interested, and came out of retirement to personally work on the opportunity. With his guidance and funding, Apple ceased to be a partnership between Jobs and Wozniak, and was incorporated as a company on January 3, 1977. Markkula provided Apple with funding of $91,000 personally in addition to securing a $250,000 line of credit from Bank of America. He brought in his friend and former coworker Michael Scott as the first president and CEO, then replaced Scott with himself from 1981 to 1983 despite having originally promised his wife that he would only stay at Apple for four years, and then later planning to retire again by 1984; during the board meeting to confirm him as the CEO, Markkula received a phone call that