To: Apple employees everywhere,
Today, Apple announced my resignation as Chairman and CEO of
Apple Computer effective
immediately. I will remain an employee, but not an officer,
until September 27, 1997, in order
to effect a smooth transition.
I joined Apple on February 2, 1996, following a successful
tenure as Chairman, President and
CEO of National Semiconductor Corporation. I did so because
as a Board member of Apple it
had become increasingly clear that the company was entering a
period of extreme crisis and the
very survival of the company as an independent entity was in
question. Someone had to take on
the task of trying to bring Apple back to health.
As we came to discover, Apple actually faced five crises from
the outset: (1) a shortage of cash
and liquidity, (2) poor quality products, (3) a lack of a
viable operating system strategy, (4) a
corporate culture lacking in accountability and discipline,
and (5) fragmentation - trying to do
too much and in too many directions. These issues persisted
notwithstanding a number of
extremely talented contributors. Much of my time at Apple has
been about confronting these
and other matters.
I am very confident that the decisions and actions taken have
been the right ones. Today, these
problems are either resolved or well on the way to being
addressed. Today, Apple has the
strongest product line-up in the history of the company.
Today, we have an exciting operating
system strategy and we are on the eve of announcing Mac OS 8
which has received very
favorable reviews during beta testing. Rhapsody, our
industrial strength operating system, is
close behind and will establish a new paradigm in operating
system architecture. Today, we
have the strongest management team in recent history. And
today, we have a cost structure
more in line with achievable revenues.
It has been very difficult, but much has been accomplished in
the last 17 months as I believe
will become increasingly evident in the months and quarters
ahead. Apple's next phase, and
remaining challenge, is to follow through flawlessly on the
programs we have launched and to
rebuild the sales volume. I am confident that the team in
place can handle this mission. On a
personal note, I look forward to once again being able to
spend a little more time with my
family.
My time at Apple has been exciting and fulfilling. We have
made great progress. It is now time
to realize the value made possible by this work for all Apple
stakeholders. Thank you for your
unwavering support during my time here ... it made the
demands less formidable. I lovingly
leave Apple in your care. Good luck, I'll be cheering from
the sidelines!
Respectfully,
Gil
-
You got nothing to say, so just keep it that way.
It's understood... SurfBALLISTICS
<> tbyars@earthlink.net <>