Gil Amelio

Given Apple's dominance in the high-tech world, it's hard to imagine that it was once a company that had cash flow problems, poor quality products, a bloated workforce, and a total lack of strategy. But that's essentially the kind of company that Gill Amelio said he took over as CEO in early 1996. By his own telling, Amelio cut costs, slashed staff, and tried to put the company back on a strategic course. But less than a year and a half later, in summer of 1997, Apple was still struggling and Amelio was forced out. The following spring he wrote a book about his 500 days at Apple, called On the Firing Line.  And that's when I met him.