Several high-profile examples illustrate the power held by founders. When Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, more than a decade after he had been forced out, he proved that a founder with vision can transform a company, even after years away. At OpenAI, Sam Altman’s brief ousting and dramatic return exposed how central—and complicated—a founder’s influence can be. At Bumble, Whitney Wolfe Herd’s shift to executive chair and her return as CEO spotlighted how remaining in a chair role can preserve a founder’s influence, sometimes blurring the lines of a full transition.