The interim CEO (iCEO) scare
An abbreviated Steve Jobs timeline as background
July 1985 – Forced out of Apple? (resigned)
February 1997 – Apple bought NeXT
July 1997 – Gil Amelio ousted, Steve becomes de-facto CEO
September 1997 – Steve named iCEO (interim CEO)
April 1999 – I joined Apple
January 2000 – Steve becomes CEO
So, why did I call it a scare. Well, at the very end of the 2+ hour Macworld San Francisco 2000 keynote, Steve said the following (my transcript, with the always enticing “One More Thing…” slide up on the giant screen.
As a backdrop, this is what he said about ever becoming CEO after the NeXT purchase:
“And you will absolutely not be the CEO of Apple?” I asked.
“My name is not in the hat to be CEO,” he said.
Note that as this speech at the end of the keynote was unfolding, my fellow Apple employees were also sharing horrified glances to each other, so it wasn’t just me.
His language for the first half struck me as “we’ve righted the ship, but it’s time for me to p…
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