After the comment Mr. Blogger saying he had heard that it was Microsoft who put Steve Jobs in front of Apple, I decided to write this third story pill information on the return of Jobs to Apple. We know that in August 1997 and was head of the company, but ... What happened to someone completely unrelated to Apple in December 1996 had just directed his fate in August 1997?
As always, to understand the motivations of the characters, must begin with the background. Steve Jobs was a founder of Apple (who have been in the consciousness popular that these were Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, but they were three, only the third one was the short time apart was not anywhere near as decisive as the two Steves), while Steve Wozniak had a more technical background on Jobs However, without being completely ignorant on the subject, was not particularly qualified as an engineer. His specialty, as it was really good, was in the leadership of a group. Of course, much to his way.
When early 80's John Sculley was hired by Apple to the post of CEO, the general idea was that they booked someone with experience and had proved its worth by defeating the giant Coca Cola Pepsi and that in his position would serve as a teacher and mentor of Jobs, it was assumed that Steve would end in time to play this role at Apple. However, in 1985, Apple sales were quite disappointing. Really were not that bad, but compared to what was expected to be significantly disappointing. The Apple Lisa was never sold much, the Apple III had so many problems that ended marketed under the name Apple II by the notoriety he had taken, and the Macintosh, the winning horse that would take the company to dominate the market with a clearly superior product, it seemed he had lost his magic touch and could not stop their sales to suffer. Even the almighty Apple II computer with which he had supported all began to show signs of exhaustion.
Steve Jobs had several ideas for turning the situation, but clashed with Sculley. So basically, attempted a coup in Apple, forcing the situation to the board choose between him and Sculley. Jobs had a great self-confidence, because, he thought, how would not opt \u200b\u200bfor the terrible enphant of computing, the boy wonder of the company founder, incidentally, the highest individual shareholder. But he was wrong, the board opted for veteran Sculley and Jobs was relegated to a position of no importance.
So after a few months pondering his future, which raised even go on the ill-fated Challenger project, Steve left Apple, he sold all his shares at least one (in order to continue receiving reports from Apple because, even if only action, it was still a shareholder) and founded a new company, NeXT, and also because I was curious and bought another as a hobby and that would give first time many headaches and finally gold would: Pixar.
In the absence of the two main founders (though really Wozniak never leave Apple, and still remains bound to the company), Apple had its ups and downs, reaching the final years of the 80 first golden age where the benefits were so high that even allowed afford to distribute dividends (virtually any computer company, unless such giants as Microsoft or IBM, distribute or have paid dividends. And Microsoft only now a matter of 10 years has not begun to do).
But 90 came bad dice, and Apple's star began to fade. As reduced sales and profits dwindled John Sculley tried to find a buyer for the company among large companies like Philips, Siemens, Kodak, AT & T, IBM, Toshiba, Compaq or Sony, but without much success.
In any case, given the evidence that John Sculley was unable to overcome the situation, the board forced him to resign in 1993. His successor Michael Spindler attempted to take flight with several strategies with mixed success that failed to return the splendor to Apple. Spindler also tried Apple rid of their problems merging it with Sun Microsystems by Scott McNeally, a proven leader personality and charisma that will surely Apple would do much good. The year was 1995 and, despite advanced talks, the voluminous losses that Apple McNeally quarter made him think better and backtracking. Apple would have to solve their problems alone. January 1996 see first how Spindler needed urgent medical assistance due to the tremendous pressure he was under at Apple was to affect him too seriously to heart, and finally on January 31, Apple's board relieved him from office.
His successor, Gil Amelio, the company set out to renew in 5 major fronts, both technological and "cultural." In any case, Apple's losses in 1996 amounted to the not inconsiderable amount of $ 1,000 million, most impressive even if we consider that Apple was valued by those then a little over $ 10,000 million. One of the fronts on which Gil Amelio was proposed to renew the company was in the field of software, especially operating systems. MacOS 7 had been an excellent operating system, but age is beginning to weigh very seriously about it, it was falling far behind. Since the early 90's, Apple was working on its successor, the project Copland, but after all these years and hundreds of millions of $ spent uselessly, Amelio knew that it was best to swallow your pride, forever terminate the project and Apple to find out what is had been unable to create within.
To do this, Gil Amelio had four possible candidates: Microsoft Windows NT, Sun Solaris, BeOS from Be, Inc. and NeXT NEXTSTEP finally.
The leading candidate for Gil Amelio was Windows NT. Not surprisingly, Amelio had contact with Bill Gates in 1996 exploring the possibility that NT Microsoft Windows port to the Mac platform while retaining the classic graphic interface of the block. Of course, Bill Gates was enchanted with the deal, but to Apple's chief technology officer, Ellen Hancock, did not like much the idea by considering a very risky project. She gambled more for the second candidate, Sun Solaris, UNIX system well established, robust and stable.
Finally, whether for business or technical reasons, the two main candidates have been discarded, so there were only BeOS and NeXT. BeOS, the Be operating system, Inc, a company founded by former Apple Jean-Louise Gassée and successor to Steve Jobs in the same in 1985, was liked by Gil Amelio, an operating system it was very light and very very modern, more advanced in many aspects than NeXT, but also much less mature. Apple negotiations began offering, $ 200 million for Be, Inc, but Gassée realized that Apple was desperate and therefore could get a better deal, so he asked for his company $ 400 million and then sat waiting sure Apple would end up giving up.
However, despite the fact that Steve Jobs or you would be thinking of entering negotiations with Apple, NeXT fortunately for themselves that there were people in the company willing to take the first step. John Landweln, NEXTSTEP was sure that Apple really needed to, convinced Mitch Mandich, vice president of sales NeXT, for him to contact Apple to back, of course, Steve Jobs, which certainly was not going to lower so far as to offer to his former employer.
order to contact, Mandich served as a director is mid-level NeXT called Garrett Rice, who called an Apple engineer to get talks with Ellen Hancock, all of this, of course, on the day of Thanksgiving. In less than a week negotiations began buying from Apple. As NeXT was not especially known for its commercial success, Apple just in case, while negotiating with it, was asking all the technology partners who had or had NeXT looking for a single reason to reverse the operation. Not finding him, the negotiations continued its course until it reached a point advanced enough to engage Steve Jobs. This may a little weird, but not the same ask Jobs to call Apple's door to see if they wanted to buy that present a strong buying interest. It would never happen first, at second ... to see what offer is that they do:).
However, Jean-Louise Gassée began to fear that the ripe fruit does not just fall from the tree but that would end up picking up other, so they lowered their claims and gave Apple the opportunity to buy Be, Inc. for $ 210 million, very close to 200 million originally offered. However, it was too late. to Gil Amelio, the value of NeXT was not alone in its software, which was undeniable, but also that with such purchase could be incorporated into the template back to Apple Steve Jobs, giving a great stunt. And before that, Be, Inc did not have much more to offer.
So, finally closed the acquisition of NeXT by Apple in the amount of $ 350 million, other than payment of the debt at that time NeXT had about $ 50 million from Apple. In total, some $ 400 million, Gassée requested by Be, Inc., however, that Gil Amelio was not able to convert Steve Jobs on Apple employee payroll. It was a compromise so that Jobs would be linked to the company as an external consultant. Not exactly I wanted, but enough.
Obviously, at that time many were those who understood that Steve Jobs longed for since Gil Amelio, the post he had coveted several times in the past and so far he had resisted. Bill Gates called Gil Amelio to warn. Even at the press conference announcing the agreement were buying was asked about Jobs himself. "Oh no, Louise," Louise replied to the journalist who asked the question. "I have a family. I have other interests."
Steve appeared, although in relative background, in January 1997 keynote. Gil Amelio was still the boss and the conference was his. After a long, boring lecture, finally, introduced several new advisory board, and among them were both Steve Wozniak and, above all, Steve Jobs, who took a standing ovation. Jobs has always mastered the art of captivating the audience in their performances, and after the long tostón of Gil Amelio's brief chat with the dynamic that the enthusiastic audience gave a lot more expectations rose that all the monologues of Amelio. Steve pointed somewhat in his favor, the competition, although he refused, was served. Jobs
served as an advisor on several occasions accompanied by Gil Amelio in various meetings with various important personalities in the world of computing, such as Bill Gates, who managed to commit to supporting the development of Rhapsody, the union of NEXTSTEP and Mac OS 7 and it would become what later became known as MacOS X. You may be the CEO Gil Amelio, but it was Steve who was negotiating. He was the snake charmer.
After finishing the first quarter of 1997 and made public the accounts of the company, the hard reality was hitting Apple. Since Gil Amelio took over the company in January 1996, Apple had lost $ 1,600 million. Amelio managed to hold on the job a few months, but finally on July 9 was fired for the board.
quickly, Jobs took over Apple exploiting the power vacuum (keep in mind that not even on the payroll at Apple and has only one share of the company) and based on their moral authority and respect it provoked. To strengthen its position purged board managers who had been in the same during the long decline and the company, putting three people change their utmost confidence. Indeed, one of them is his good friend Larry Ellison, founder and CEO of Oracle, which released just months before the pump to the press that it was considering buying Apple and Jobs set his friend to direct . Know God if he actually said was serious or not.
is also the time when Michael Dell responds when asked his opinion about the changes at Apple that Jobs if he were what he would do would be to liquidate the company and distribute the money out to shareholders. Nine years later, in January 2007, Steve Jobs reminded this quote after beating Apple to Dell in exchange.
In any event, the keynote August 1997, the same which we raised in this pill was not yet clear exactly the position it occupied in the organizational Jobs of Apple. However, as for practical purposes it was he who made the decisions within the company, that 16 September was appointed interim CEO as no surprise. Well, yes, it was "interim" CEO not to dry. And also surprised his salary. Jobs charge $ 1 a year. Yes, just one. And would not receive, despite the junta offered it, not a single action for it. It was not money, said Steve, and evidenced by this gesture. Money, or rather, the actions would come later, but that's another story to be reckoned with another day ...
