Shortest-Tenured CEOs in History
By siliconindia   |   Thursday, 29 September 2011, 00:41 IST
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3. Gil Amelio, Apple (1 year, 4 months): CEO from: Feb.1996 - July.1997
CEO
According to many economists, Gilbert Amelio was a savior of businesses which were in trouble. Gil was best known for his tenure as chairman at National Semiconductor, where he was recognized for saving the company. With this in mind, the board of directors at Apple decided to appoint him to the board after reporting another huge loss in 1994. Gil was perhaps one of the most technically savvy of Apple chairmen. By that time Apple was bleeding red ink and suffering huge losses under the then chairman, Michael Spindler. Among the first actions of Amelio as the head of Apple was to reject the buyout offer made by Sun. Stockholders, customers and employees were all won over to Amelio by his decision. The euphoria is short lived though, as Apple announced layoffs of nearly 3,000 people and a $700 million loss, the largest ever experienced by a Silicon Valley company. By the fourth quarter of 1996, Apple Apple announced that it would buy Steve Job's company, NeXT, for $430 million. Steve Jobs quickly suspected of lusting for the leadership at Apple, though he denied it. Slowly, top executives at Apple are replaced with those who served under Jobs at NeXT. Amelio writes a book, On the Firing Line: My 500 Days at Apple, which includes a scathing review of Jobs and the changes he made in the company, especially the maneuverings to oust him as CEO and chairman. Amelio also complained about the lack of reserved parking at Apple, and how Jobs always parked in the handicapped spots.