Gil Amelio
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Gilbert F. Amelio (born March 1, 1943 in New York City) is an American technology executive. He grew up in Miami, Florida, and received a bachelors, masters, and Ph.D. in physics from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Amelio worked at Bell Labs, Fairchild Semiconductor, and the semiconductor division of Rockwell International, but is best remembered as a former CEO of National Semiconductor and Apple Computer. Amelio was CEO of National Semiconductor from May 27, 1991, to February 2, 1996. During his tenure at NatSemi, Amelio cut costs and returned the company to profitability.
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[edit] Career
[edit] 1994–1997: Apple Computer
In 1994, Amelio joined the Board of Directors of Apple Computer. Upon his resignation from NatSemi, Amelio became Apple CEO on February 2, 1996, succeeding Michael Spindler. His salary was a reported $990,000, plus bonuses and a $5 million loan.
Amelio cited several problems at Apple, including a shortage of cash and liquidity, low-quality products, lack of a viable operating system strategy, undisciplined corporate culture, and fragmentation in trying to do too much and in too many directions.
To address these problems, Amelio cut costs, reduced Apple's work force by one-third, discontinued the Copland operating system project, and oversaw the development of Mac OS 8. To replace Copland and fulfill the need for a next-generation operating system for the Macintosh, Amelio started negotiations to buy Be, Incorporated, makers of BeOS, but negotiations stalled when Be CEO Jean-Louis Gassée wanted $400 million; Apple was unwilling to offer any more than $125 million. In November 1996, Amelio started discussions with Steve Jobs' NeXT, and bought the company on February 4, 1997 for $429 million. NeXT's operating system became the basis for Mac OS X. Amelio later admitted he felt he had overpaid for NeXT.
During Amelio's tenure Apple's stock hit a 12-year low, and in the second quarter of 1997, after Steve Jobs sold all his stock in the company (which he'd acquired through the 'merger') Apple lost another $708 million. Board member Ed Woolard announced his termination on July 4, 1997, and Amelio left the company the next day. He was replaced by Steve Jobs.
[edit] 1998–Present: After Apple
Since 1998, Amelio has been a venture capitalist focusing on early-stage startups. He is currently Senior Partner at Sienna Ventures in Sausalito, California.
In February 2001, Amelio became CEO of Advanced Communications Technologies, or ADC. ADC is the United States arm of an Australian firm that has developed a product for the wireless communications industry called SpectruCell. SpectruCell supports multiple protocols and is software upgradeable, which is a big boon to the cell phone market.[1]
Amelio is a former director and chairman of the Semiconductor Industry Association, since 1996 has been an advisor to the Malaysia Multimedia Super Corridor and to Malaysia's Prime Minister. He is a current or past director of AT&T Inc., Pacific Telesis, Chiron, Sematech, the Georgia Tech Advisory Board (as chairman) and the American Film Institute. In Oct 2005 he joined the Board of Advisors to Vanguard PAC, now TheVanguard.Org.[2]
Amelio is an IEEE Fellow, has been awarded 16 patents, and is the author of three books, An American Imperative (1993), Profit from Experience (1995) and On the Firing Line: My 500 Days at Apple (1998), the latter two of which were business best sellers.
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ MacObserver, Former Apple CEO Gil Amelio Lands A New CEO Job, February 6 2001
- ^ The Vanguard.org - Board of Advisors - Dr. Gil Amelio
Dr. Amelio was recently interviewed about his time at Apple and much more on the MyMac.com Podcast [1]
[edit] References
- Amelio, Gil, On the Firing Line: My 500 Days at Apple, ISBN 0-88730-918-6 (1998, excerpt)
[edit] External links
- 500 Days at the Helm: The Rise and Fall of Gil Amelio from Low End Mac
| Preceded by: Michael Spindler |
Apple CEO 1996-1997 |
Succeeded by: Steve Jobs |
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Key figures of Apple Computer history |
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| Steve Jobs - Steve Wozniak - Mike Markkula - Jef Raskin - Andy Hertzfeld - Bill Atkinson - Susan Kare - Jean-Louis Gassée - Del Yocam - John Sculley - Jonathan Ive - Gil Amelio - Avie Tevanian |
