I did hesitate when I wrote that, knowing that modern Apple's DNA is pretty much pure Next. The history of the Next doesn't lend much to the theory that Steve's presence is all you need to make a successful company though.

It's a tricky argument though, he really is such a remarkable CEO it's hard to say he's not proof of the great man theory! I just can't think of anyone else whose great man status can't be plausibly explained by survivorship bias.