Editing John Sculley (section)

== Career ==
Sculley began work at Marschalk Co. in New York City in 1963.<ref name=":0" />

=== 1967–82: Pepsi-Cola ===
Sculley joined the Pepsi-Cola division of PepsiCo in 1967 as a trainee, where he participated in a six-month training program at a [[bottling plant]] in [[Pittsburgh]].<ref name="Odyssey">{{cite book | first1=John | last1=Sculley | author-link1=John Sculley | first2=John A. | last2=Byrne | title=Odyssey: Pepsi to Apple ... A journey of adventure, ideas and the future | publisher=Diane Pub Co | isbn= 0788169491 | oclc=947796756 | date=1990 | orig-year=October 1, 1987}}</ref>{{rp|30}} In 1970, at the age of 30, Sculley became the company's youngest marketing vice-president.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-02-08-mn-20471-story.html|title=Saga of Apple's Ex-Chief Takes an Unusual Turn : Business: John Sculley quits as Spectrum chairman, alleging deceit. He sues executive who hired him.|last=WEBER|first=JONATHAN|date=February 8, 1994|work=Los Angeles Times|access-date=February 16, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0458-3035}}</ref>

Sculley initiated one of the company's first consumer-research studies, an extended in-home product test in which 350 families participated. As a result of the research, Pepsi decided to launch new, larger, and more varied packages of their soft drinks,<ref name="Odyssey"/>{{rp|43–44}} including the [[two-liter bottle]] Sculley worked with [[DuPont]] to develop.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sculley |first=John |date=2014 |title=Moonshot! |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d8omDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT68 |publisher=RosettaBooks |page=68 |isbn=9780795343360}}</ref> In 1970, Pepsi set out to dethrone Coca-Cola as the market leader of the industry, in what eventually became known as the [[Cola wars|Cola Wars]]. Pepsi began spending more on marketing and advertising, typically paying between US$200,000 and $300,000 for each television spot, while most companies spent between $15,000 and $75,000. With the Pepsi Generation campaign, Pepsi aimed to overturn Coca-Cola's classic marketing.<ref name="Odyssey"/>{{rp|54}}

In 1974, Sculley became president of PepsiCo's International Food Operations division,<ref name=":0" /> shortly after he visited a failing potato-chip factory in Paris. PepsiCo's food division was their only money-losing division, with revenues of US$83 million and losses of $156.5 million. To make the food division profitable, Sculley improved product quality, enhanced accounts, and established financial controls.<ref name="Odyssey"/>{{rp|63–66}} Within three years, the food division was making US$300 million in revenues and $40 million in profit.<ref name="Odyssey"/>{{rp|68}}

Sculley was best known at Pepsi for the [[Pepsi Challenge]], an advertising campaign he started in 1975 to compete against Coca-Cola to gain market share, using heavily advertised taste tests. It claimed based on Sculley's own research that Pepsi-Cola tasted better than Coca-Cola. The Pepsi Challenge included a series of television advertisements that first aired in the early 1970s, featuring lifelong Coca-Cola drinkers participating in [[blind taste test]]s. Pepsi's soft drink was always chosen as the preferred product by the participant; however, these results have been criticized as being caused by Pepsi's sweetness, rather than its superior taste.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Yglesias |first=Matthew |date=2013-08-09 |title=How Coke Won the Cola Wars |url=https://slate.com/business/2013/08/pepsi-paradox-why-people-prefer-coke-even-though-pepsi-wins-in-taste-tests.html |access-date=2022-11-04 |website=Slate Magazine |language=en}}</ref>

The Pepsi Challenge was mostly targeted at the Texas market, where Pepsi had a significantly lower [[market share]] at the time. The campaign was successful, significantly increasing Pepsi's market share in that state. At the time the Pepsi Challenge was started, Sculley was senior vice-president of United States sales and marketing operations at Pepsi.<ref name="Odyssey"/>{{rp|71–75}} Sculley himself took the taste test and picked Coke instead of Pepsi.<ref name="Infinite Loop"/>{{rp|287}}

In 1977, Sculley was named Pepsi's youngest-ever president. Although commonly called the CEO of Pepsi, this was never the case. At the time of his departure, [[Donald M. Kendall|Don Kendall]] was CEO of Pepsi.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Pollack|first=Andrew|date=1983-04-09|title=Apple Gets President from Pepsi|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/04/09/business/apple-gets-president-from-pepsi.html|access-date=2023-02-08|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

=== 1983–93: Apple Computer, Inc. ===
{{blockquote | I think of you just like Woz and Markkula. You're like one of the founders of the company. They founded the company, but you and I are founding the future.|source=Steve Jobs, to John Sculley, at the Macintosh introduction rehearsal in 1984<ref name="Infinite Loop">{{cite book|author-link=Michael S. Malone|first=Michael S.|last=Malone|year=1999 |title=Infinite Loop|publisher=Currency/Doubleday |isbn=978-0-385-48684-2|oclc=971131326|url=https://archive.org/details/infiniteloophoww00malo |url-access=registration}}</ref>{{rp|283}}}}
Apple lured Sculley away from Pepsi in order to apply his marketing skills to the personal computer market.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Dormehl |first=Luke |date=June 18, 2022 |title=Today in Apple history: John Sculley steps down as Apple CEO |url=https://www.cultofmac.com/555597/today-in-apple-history-john-sculley-steps-down-as-apple-ceo/ |access-date=June 22, 2022 |website=www.cultofmac.com}}</ref> [[Steve Jobs]] successfully sealed the deal after he made his pitch to Sculley: "Do you want to sell sugared water for the rest of your life? Or do you want to come with me and change the world?"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/nerds/part3.html |title=Triumph of the Nerds: The Transcripts, Part III |publisher=Pbs.org |access-date=April 14, 2014}}</ref> Apple's president, [[Mike Markkula]], wanted to retire and believed that Jobs, who wished to be the company's president, lacked the discipline and temperament needed to run Apple on a daily basis. Sculley, with his solid business background and recent success, would give Apple an image of greater reliability and stability. In an interview with Authority Magazine, Sculley said that Jobs came to him and said "How did you do that? You had no money to speak of at Pepsi. “How did you pass Coca Cola?” And I responded, “Well, we call it experience marketing.” The focus was on selling the experience, not the product.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}}

When Sculley started at Apple, he got a $1 million signing bonus, $1 million in annual pay and options on 350,000  Apple shares.<ref name=":0" /> From the time Jobs and Sculley first met in 1982 until 1985, they had what they both acknowledged as an amazing partnership.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mansfield |first=Edwin |author-link=Edwin Mansfield |date=1993 |title=Study Guide and Casebook for Managerial Economics |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D2ZINsfVSBgC&pg=PA62 |publisher=[[W. W. Norton & Company]] |page=62 |isbn=9780393962864}}</ref> Sculley used his marketing experience to help keep the aging [[Apple II]], generating much-needed cash, and helped Jobs launch the Mac with the [[1984 (advertisement)#Reception and legacy|most admired consumer marketing campaign]] of its time. Once Jobs took over the [[Macintosh 128K|Macintosh]] project from Apple co-founder [[Steve Wozniak]] and early Apple employee [[Jef Raskin]], he became the executive product manager and made all the product decisions.<ref name=TheVerge>{{cite web|title=Steve Wozniak on Newton, Tesla, and why the original Macintosh was a 'lousy' product|date=June 27, 2013|url=https://www.theverge.com/2013/6/27/4468314/steve-wozniak-on-how-the-newton-changed-his-life|access-date=June 25, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312014832/http://www.theverge.com/2013/6/27/4468314/steve-wozniak-on-how-the-newton-changed-his-life|archive-date=March 12, 2016}}</ref>

The [[Apple Lisa|Lisa]] computer, an innovative model designed by a team initially led by Jobs, became available in January 1983, and had disastrous sales. When Jobs's Macintosh, the first of a new series of models with a pioneering black-and-white [[graphical user interface]], was shipped to stores in January 1984, Sculley raised the initial price to $2,495 from the originally planned $1,995, allocating the additional money to hypothetically higher [[profit margin]]s and to expensive advertising campaigns.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Price_Fight.txt&sortOrder=Sort%20by%20Date&detail=medium&search=John%20Sculley |title=Andy Hertzfeld, Article: ''Price Fight'' (October 1983) |publisher=Folklore.org |access-date=April 14, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140415124834/http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Price_Fight.txt&sortOrder=Sort%20by%20Date&detail=medium&search=John%20Sculley |archive-date=April 15, 2014 }}</ref> Macintosh sold well, and received excellent reviews, but it did not eliminate the [[IBM Personal Computer|IBM PC]].

At the peak of the Macintosh success, Apple made an attempt to move unsold inventory of Lisa computers by renaming it to "Macintosh XL" and positioning it as a top-of-the-line pro Macintosh model. At this point, a power struggle between Jobs and Sculley was becoming obvious. Jobs became "non-linear": he kept meetings running past midnight, sent out lengthy faxes, then called new meetings at 7:00 am.<ref name="lemsculley"/> Sculley had little control over the Macintosh division where Jobs was the general manager.<ref name="robbeloth198510_11">{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/II_Computing_Vol_1_No_1_Oct_Nov_85_Premiere#page/n7/mode/2up | title=Whither Apple? | work=II Computing | date=Oct–Nov 1985 | access-date=January 28, 2015 | author=Robbeloth, DeWitt | pages=8}}</ref>

The Apple board of directors instructed Sculley to "contain" Jobs and limit his ability to launch expensive forays into untested products. Rather than submit to Sculley's direction, Jobs attempted to oust him from his leadership role at Apple. Sculley found out about Jobs's plans and called a board meeting at which Apple's board of directors sided with Sculley and removed Jobs from his managerial duties. Jobs resigned from Apple and founded [[NeXT|NeXT Inc.]] the same year.<ref name="lemsculley"/><ref>{{cite news| last = Spector| first = G| title = Apple's Jobs Starts New Firm, Targets Education Market| work = [[PC Week]]| page = 109| date = September 24, 1985}}</ref> Sculley said in 2015 that Jobs never forgave him and their friendship was never repaired.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/john-sculley-admits-steve-jobs-never-forgave-him-before-jobs-died-2015-5|url-status=live|title=Former Apple CEO John Sculley admits Steve Jobs never forgave him, and he never repaired their friendship, before Jobs died|work=Business Insider|date=May 27, 2015|access-date=March 12, 2017|first=Jim|last=Edwards|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171001075153/https://www.businessinsider.com.au/john-sculley-admits-steve-jobs-never-forgave-him-before-jobs-died-2015-5|archive-date=October 1, 2017}}</ref>

After Jobs left, Sculley was named president<ref name=":0" /> and the company experienced a turnaround in 1986; one journalist wrote "since Sculley joined the company … many things have changed", and that his "strategy has worked".<ref name="goyens19860419">{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=S4s0AAAAIBAJ&pg=919%2C5720872 | title=Sculley's strategy seems to be doing the job for Apple | work=Montreal Gazette | date=April 19, 1986 | access-date=January 3, 2015 | author=Goyens, Chris | pages=J-9}}</ref> Wozniak credited the Macintosh's initial success to Sculley, saying that he "worked to build a Macintosh market when the Apple II went away".<ref name=TheVerge/> Under the direction of Sculley, who had learned several painful lessons after introducing the bulky [[Macintosh Portable]] in 1989, Apple introduced the [[PowerBook]] in 1991.<ref name="lemsculley"/>

In 1991, Apple introduced [[System 7]], a major upgrade to the operating system, which added color to the interface and introduced new networking capabilities. It remained the architectural basis for Mac OS until 2001, when the [[classic Mac OS]] was replaced by [[Mac OS X]]. The success of the PowerBook and other products brought increasing revenue. For some time, it appeared that Apple could do no wrong, introducing fresh new products and generating increasing profits in the process. The magazine ''[[MacLife|MacAddict]]'' named the period between 1989 and 1991 as the "first golden age" of the Macintosh.<ref name="lemsculley"/> Under the leadership of Sculley, Apple's sales multiplied from $982 million in 1983 to $7.9 billion in 1993.<ref name=":0" />

[[Microsoft]] threatened to discontinue [[Microsoft Office]] for the Macintosh if Apple did not license parts of the Macintosh graphical user interface to use in the [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]] operating system. Under pressure, Sculley agreed, a decision which later affected the ''[[Apple v. Microsoft]]'' lawsuit. About that time, Sculley coined the term [[personal digital assistant]] (PDA) referring to the [[Apple Newton]], one of the world's first PDAs, a product that Sculley oversaw and launched in 1993.<ref>[http://www.ciber.com/ciber/30years/more.cfm?dataid=174&id=90 Ciber, Technology Milestone: Apple Newton 1993] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050206160039/http://www.ciber.com/ciber/30years/more.cfm?dataid=174&id=90 |date=February 6, 2005}}</ref><ref name=":1" />

In 1987, Sculley made several predictions in a ''[[Playboy]]'' interview: He predicted that the [[Soviet Union]] would land a man on [[Mars]] within the next 20 years and he claimed that optical storage media such as the [[CD-ROM]] would revolutionize the use of personal computers.<ref>{{citation|url= |title=Playboy Interview &#124; Goodman, Danny|date=September 1, 1987 |access-date=}}</ref> Some of his ideas for the [[Knowledge Navigator]] were eventually fulfilled by the Internet and the [[World Wide Web]] during the 1990s and others by Apple itself with the introduction of [[Siri]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Siri Acquisition Brings Apple Much Closer to the 'Knowledge Navigator' Concept |url=https://www.macrumors.com/2010/04/28/siri-acquisition-brings-apple-much-closer-to-the-knowledge-navigator-concept/ |access-date=2022-11-04 |website=MacRumors |date=April 28, 2010 |language=en}}</ref>

On December 5, 1992, Sculley, as chairman, CEO, and CTO of Apple Computer, Inc., gave a seminal speech regarding the future of the Internet, titled "The Dawn of a $3.5 Trillion Communications Mega-Industry: Information Access, Processing and Distribution in a Digital World." This was the keynote address to a packed house at the Harvard Business School's Burden Auditorium, as part of the inaugural student-run Harvard/MIT Communications 2000 Symposium, now known as the Harvard Business School Tech Club's annual [[Cyberposium]].

In the early 1990s, Sculley led Apple to [[porting|port]] its operating system to run on a new microprocessor, the [[PowerPC]]. Sculley later acknowledged such an act was his greatest mistake, indicating that he should instead have targeted the dominant [[Intel]] architecture.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?newsid=7045 |title=MacWorld, ''John Sculley Admits Intel Blunder'' (2003) |access-date=April 14, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101022230413/http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?newsid=7045 |archive-date=October 22, 2010}}</ref> After a bad first quarter in 1993, amid a personal-computer price war and internal tension over the company's direction, Apple's board forced Sculley out.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16538745|title=Ex-Apple boss Sculley sets record straight on Jobs|work=BBC News|date=March 8, 2012|access-date=March 26, 2013}}</ref> He resigned on October 15, 1993<ref>{{Cite web|title=Apple's John Sculley Resigns Chairmanship for 'New Challenges' |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1993-10-15-9310160132-story.html|access-date=2023-02-08|website=Chicago Tribune|date=October 15, 1993 }}</ref>  and was replaced by [[Germans|German]]-born [[Michael Spindler]], who had been Chief Operating Officer. Spindler was ousted three years later and replaced with [[Gil Amelio]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=1996-02-03|title=Spindler 'finally ousted' from Apple|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/spindler-finally-ousted-from-apple-1317052.html|access-date=2023-02-08|website=The Independent|language=en}}</ref> In 1997, amidst poor financial performance Apple would acquire Steve Jobs's [[NeXT|NeXT Software]]; Jobs would oust Amelio and reinstate himself as chief executive.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Markoff |first=John |date=1996-12-23 |title=Why Apple Sees Next as a Match Made in Heaven |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/12/23/business/why-apple-sees-next-as-a-match-made-in-heaven.html |access-date=2023-11-05 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

=== 1993–present: tech investment ===
After leaving Apple on October 23, 1993, Sculley became chairman and chief executive officer at Spectrum Information Technologies, a New York-based company that held key computer patents for wireless data transmission. Only four months later he resigned from the company and filed a lawsuit against Spectrum president Peter Caserta, seeking more than $10 million in damages. Sculley alleged that he was misled when he was hired at Spectrum by not being told of SEC inquiries and "aggressive revenue recognition accounting" for license fees.<ref name=":0" />

Sculley has been a founding investor in [[MetroPCS]] (formerly General Wireless) and helped guide the company's brand marketing; MetroPCS became a multibillion-dollar public company on the New York Stock Exchange<ref>{{cite web|url=https://stocktwits.com/symbol/PCS|title=PCS investment information - MetroPCS Communications, Inc. ideas on StockTwits|first=StockTwits Inc|last=(stocktwits.com)|website=StockTwits|access-date=October 1, 2017}}</ref> until its acquisition by T-Mobile in 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theverge.com/2013/5/1/4286622/t-mobile-us-metropcs-merger-complete-tmus |title=- T-Mobile and MetroPCS merger finalized, company to begin trading as 'T-Mobile US'| publisher=verge.com |date=May 1, 2013 |access-date=June 7, 2016}}</ref> He built NFO Research from $25 million to $550 million in revenue, and sold it to [[The Interpublic Group of Companies|IPG]] for $850 million. He helped launch and advised [[Hotwire.com]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Price |first=Brian |title=John Sculley's plans for changing the world … again |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2016/04/29/john-sculleys-plans-for-changing-the-world-again.html |access-date=2022-11-04 |website=CNBC |date=April 30, 2016 |language=en}}</ref> [[IntraLinks|Intralinks]] (which was co-founded by his brother Arthur),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sculley ventures into big picture |url=https://www.cnet.com/tech/tech-industry/sculley-ventures-into-big-picture/ |access-date=2022-11-04 |website=CNET |language=en}}</ref> and [[InPhonic]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ybarra |first=Ian |title=The No. 1 Company |url=https://www.inc.com/magazine/20041015/no1.html |website=Inc.}}</ref> [[Buy.com]],<ref>{{Cite web |last=McGarry |first=Debra |title=Buy.com's Sculley quits board |url=https://www.marketwatch.com/story/buycom-loses-john-sculley-as-board-member |access-date=2022-11-04 |website=MarketWatch |language=EN-US}}</ref> and [[PeoplePC]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hamilton |first=David P. |date=1999-09-13 |title=Internet Veteran Will Introduce A Spin on the Free-PC Venture |language=en-US |work=Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB937170708634722795 |access-date=2022-11-04 |issn=0099-9660}}</ref>

In 1997, Sculley became the chairman of Live Picture, a California-based company, to oversee its push into high-quality, low-bandwidth imaging over the Internet. US$22M in venture capital was provided for the company. Sculley later left the company, but remained an investor. In 1999, Live Picture filed for federal bankruptcy protection as part of a plan to be acquired by MGI Software.<ref>{{cite web|author=<!--Start Byline--><!--End Byline--> |url=https://money.cnn.com/1997/09/11/technology/sculley_intv/ |title=CNNMoney, ''John Sculley rides again'', September 1997 |publisher=Money.cnn.com |access-date=April 14, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://groups.google.com/group/comp.sys.next.advocacy/browse_thread/thread/bfe4aab657b25cb0/b4da3428703cb9d3?lnk=st&q=Live+Picture+Inc+Bankrupt&rnum=1&hl=en#b4da3428703cb9d3 |title=Google Groups, ''Live Picture files for bankruptcy'', May 1999 |access-date=April 14, 2014}}</ref>

In 1997, Sculley co-founded PopTech with [[Robert Metcalfe|Bob Metcalfe]] and several other dignitaries from the technology industry.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/the-daily-need/celebrating-failure-and-other-novelties-at-pop-tech/4396/ |title=All roads lead to Camden &#124; Need to Know |publisher=Pbs.org |date=October 21, 2010 |access-date=April 14, 2014}}</ref> In 1998, he joined the board of directors of [[Buy.com|BuyComp LLC]] (now Buy.com), an Internet-only computer store. Two years later, he partnered with [[Dennis M. Lynch]] to launch Signature21, providing marketing services to small to medium-sized businesses. In 2001, Sculley and Lynch transitioned the company into a learning program for rising entrepreneurs. Months later, Lynch left the company, while Sculley continued to consult and work with small businesses, including [[InPhonic]], whose board of directors he later joined. InPhonic was an online retailer of cell phones and wireless plans. Sculley's early leadership<ref>[http://wbt.sys-con.com/read/40825.htm Robert Diamond, ''When two heads are better than one''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928021441/http://wbt.sys-con.com/read/40825.htm |date=September 28, 2007}}, May 2, 2001.</ref> helped steer InPhonic towards its successful IPO in 2004. Sculley served as the vice chairman of the InPhonic board of directors. InPhonic filed for [[Chapter 11, Title 11, United States Code|bankruptcy]] in 2007.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://corp.inphonic.com/reorg/ |title=InPhonic.com Press Release, November 8, 2007 |access-date=January 9, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080504210840/http://corp.inphonic.com/reorg/ |archive-date=May 4, 2008 }}</ref>

In 2002, Sculley endorsed and invested in the [[Wine Clip]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thewineclip.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi?category=tech_pvr |title=The Wine Clip Testimonials |publisher=Thewineclip.com |date=November 20, 2003 |access-date=April 14, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140415103725/http://www.thewineclip.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi?category=tech_pvr |archive-date=April 15, 2014 }}</ref> a wine accessory product, which claims to accelerate the aeration of wine by exposure to magnets. A year later he helped in the founding of Verified Person Inc., an online pre-employment screening company. As of 2012, he serves on the board of directors.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.verifiedperson.com/aboutus_board.html |title=Verified Person Inc Board of Directors |access-date=January 14, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120210033158/http://www.verifiedperson.com/aboutus_board.html |archive-date=February 10, 2012 |url-status=dead  }}</ref> In 2004, Sculley joined the board of directors at OpenPeak, a maker of software for wireless consumer electronics, digital media, computers, and home systems.<ref>{{cite web|author=Macworld staff |url=http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index.cfm?newsid=7770&page=1&pagepos=3 |title=MacWorld UK, ''John Sculley joins OpenPeak board'', January 27, 2004 |publisher=Macworld.co.uk |date=May 24, 2013 |access-date=April 14, 2014}}</ref> In the same year, Sculley became a venture partner at Rho Ventures.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rhomanagement.com/venture_capital/about_vc/team/john_sculley.html|title=John Sculley Venture Partner, Rho Ventures|publisher=[[Rho Ventures]]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040623223747/http://www.rhomanagement.com/venture_capital/about_vc/team/john_sculley.html|archive-date=June 23, 2004|access-date=March 15, 2017}}</ref> In March 2006, Sculley was named Chairman of IdenTrust (formerly Digital Signature Trust Company) a San Francisco-based firm focusing on verifying identity and boosting financial security.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.identrust.com/ |title=IdenTrust.com |publisher=IdenTrust.com |access-date=April 14, 2014}}</ref>

Before speaking at the Silicon Valley 4.0 conference, Sculley was interviewed by [[CNET]] in October 2003, where he explained the mistakes he made at Apple concerning the [[Apple Newton]] and [[HyperCard]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2012-02-05|first=Dawn |last=Kawamoto |title=Riding the next technology wave |website=CNET News|url=http://news.cnet.com/2008-7351-5085423.html|access-date=2023-02-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205201219/http://news.cnet.com/2008-7351-5085423.html |archive-date=February 5, 2012 }}</ref> Sculley had canceled Apple's first hand-held mobile tablet PenMac led by Paul Mercer with applications by [[Samir Arora]] and instead signed an agreement to work with Sharp Electronics on the Newton technology.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/27/technology/27mercer.html|title=He Helped Build the iPod; Now He Has Built a Rival|last=Markoff|first=John|date=February 27, 2006|newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=June 13, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2009/10/27/exclusive-picture-of-unlaunched-apple-tablet-circa-1990/|title=Exclusive Picture Of Unlaunched Apple Tablet (circa 1990)|last=Arrington|first=Michael|website=TechCrunch|date=October 28, 2009 |access-date=June 13, 2016}}</ref> Also in 2003, Sculley was interviewed by the [[BBC]] for the television documentary ''The World's Most Powerful'' episode ''Steve Jobs vs. [[Bill Gates]]'', discussing his time at Apple during the 1980s as CEO. In 2010, he was interviewed for ''Cult of Mac'' on the topics of Steve Jobs and design.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cultofmac.com/john-sculley-on-steve-jobs-the-full-interview-transcript |title=Cult of Mac, ''John Sculley on Steve Jobs, The Full Interview Transcript'', 14 October 2010 |publisher=Cultofmac.com |date=October 14, 2010 |access-date=April 14, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130304143420/http://www.cultofmac.com/john-sculley-on-steve-jobs-the-full-interview-transcript |archive-date=March 4, 2013 |url-status=dead }}Sculley has spoken at PopTech since its opening in 1997 every year except for 2005.</ref><ref>[http://www.poptech.com/speakers.cfm?page=speaker_detail&id=158 "John Sculley speaker biography"]. Pop!Tech {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060116204207/http://www.poptech.com/speakers.cfm?page=speaker_detail&id=158 |date=January 16, 2006}}</ref>

In 2007, Sculley co-founded the data company [[Zeta Global]] with business partner [[David A. Steinberg]], and in January 2014 the data analytics firm XL Marketing, rebranded and incorporated its resources into Zeta Interactive, re-launching it as a Big Data-Driven Marketing firm.<ref name="BI_Bg Data">{{cite news|last1=O'Reilly|first1=Lara|title=The former CEO of Apple just raised a big funding round at a ~$1 billion valuation for his new company|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/zeta-interactive-raises-125-million-2015-7|agency=Business Insider|date=July 15, 2015}}</ref> On January 30, 2014, Sculley was a panelist at a forum organized by Zeta, which featured ad executives, marketers and [[National Football League|NFL]] executive to discuss the changes in the way companies market and reach consumers since Sculley's time at Apple in 1984 when the computer company featured what became one of the first iconic Super Bowl ads—the [[1984 (advertisement)|1984 commercial]].<ref name=NYPost_1984>{{cite news|last=Kelly|first=Keith|title=Ad flashback: Apple's 1984 Super Bowl commercial|url=https://nypost.com/2014/01/30/ad-flashback-apples-1984-super-bowl-commercial/|access-date=January 31, 2014|newspaper=New York Post|date=January 30, 2014}}</ref> In October 2016, Zeta Interactive was again rebranded as [[Zeta Global]].<ref name="Zeta Rebrand">{{cite news|last1=Konrad|first1=Alex|title=Never Heard Of Zeta Global? Software CEO David Steinberg Has 300 Million Reasons Not To Worry|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkonrad/2016/11/18/zeta-global-new-name-behind-300-million-in-revenue/#13c471be3b1a|agency=Forbes|date=November 18, 2016}}</ref>

In 2014, Sculley co-founded [[Obi Worldphone|Obi Mobiles]], a smartphone brand aimed at the emerging markets. The company was renamed Obi Worldphone.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.androidcentral.com/former-apple-ceo-john-sculley-backed-obi-worldphone-launches-two-sleek-sub-250-smartphones |title=Former Apple CEO John Sculley-backed Obi Worldphone launches sleek sub-$250 smartphones |publisher=androidcentral.com |date=August 27, 2015 |access-date=August 27, 2015}}</ref> In September 2017, Sculley distanced himself from Obi Worldphone and told that his name was used for PR only.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|last=Kurup|first=Rajesh|title=Trouble brews for Obi Mobiles, company 'founded' by former Apple CEO John Sculley|url=https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/info-tech/trouble-brews-for-obi-mobiles-company-founded-by-former-apple-ceo-john-sculley/article9864052.ece|access-date=August 9, 2020|website=@businessline|date=September 18, 2017 |language=en}}</ref> He has also been working in the [[health care industry]], focusing on RxAdvance, a [[cloud computing|cloud]]-based platform that helps [[pharmaceutical companies]], hospitals and insurers manage chronically ill patients living at home.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fastcompany.com/3065143/how-former-apple-ceo-john-sculley-reinvented-himself-in-health-care|title=How Former Apple CEO John Sculley Reinvented Himself In Health Care|work=Fast Company|first=Rick|last=Tetzeli|date=November 20, 2016|access-date=March 12, 2017}}</ref>