This Week in Apple History by Owen Linzmayer & Bryan Chaffin

September 26-30: Gassée Resigns, Amelio Out Published October 31st, 2004

You can find more information on many of the entries below in Owen Linzmayer's excellent Apple Confidential 2.0. The other entries can be found in TMO's archives, and we link to articles whenever we can.1981:

September 26-30

1990: Jean-Louis Gassée, president of Apple Products, makes good on the promise he made in March and resigns from Apple. Gassée had been Apple's second highest ranking executive - just below CEO John Sculley - but was essentially demoted when Michael Spindler was named COO in January. To fill the gap left by Gassée, Sculley anoints himself Apple's chief technology officer; Gassée goes on to found Be, Inc. with the father of the Newton project, Steve Sakoman.

1995: Pixar's net deficit reaches US$46.9 million, with almost all of the money invested in the company to date coming out of Steve Jobs' personal fortune, according to Pixar's IPO prospectus. The year prior, Jobs tried selling Pixar to Microsoft. Instead of buying the entire company, Redmond paid US$6.5 million for a license to the key patent covering Pixar's RenderMan software, allowing Pixar to turn in its first profitable quarter.

1997: Gil Amelio relinquishes his Apple employee badge. Although Apple announced his resignation as chairman and CEO effective July 9, Amelio remained an employee until September 27, in order to effect a smooth transition. After just 523 days in charge, Amelio was given a one-time lump-sum cash payment of US$6,731,870, less US$1,500,000 as a partial repayment of a loan, plus 130,960 shares of stock and an additional bonus of US$1,000,000. He used part of these proceeds to fund Parkside Group, a strategic quality investment firm. In May 2001, Amelio became a senior partner at Sienna Ventures, a privately held investment firm in Sausalito, California.

2001: Apple releases the first major upgrade to its next generation operating system: Mac OS X 10.1 (code-named Puma). The US$129 package features enhanced performance, a refined Aqua user interface, ColorSync 4, the DVD Player application, and support for DVD-R burning. It is widely considered the first consumer-ready release of Mac OS X.

is the author of Apple Confidential 2.0: The Definitive History of the World’s Most Colorful Company, published by No Starch Press earlier this year (US$13.97 - Amazon).

is the editor of The Mac Observer, and was egged on, in-part, in his obsession with the Mac by Owen's first book, The Mac Bathroom Reader.

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