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Apple Inc. officially announced its acquisition of NeXT Software Inc. on December 20, 1996, for approximately 429 million dollars in cash and stock. The transaction was finalized in early 1997 and served as the mechanism that returned Steve Jobs to the company he co-founded after he was forced out in 1985. While the primary goal of the acquisition was to secure NeXTSTEP technology to replace Apple's failing internal operating system projects, the deal specifically installed Jobs as a special advisor to then-CEO Gil Amelio. Following the merger, Jobs quickly increased his influence within the organization and replaced Amelio as interim CEO by July 1997. This return marked the beginning of a corporate turnaround that led to the development of macOS and the eventual release of the iMac, iPod, and iPhone.