Chapter 3 First Independence Day

Friday, July 4, 1997, Independence Day.It has to be said that this day is quite a magical day for the United States and the entire earth. On this day, NASA's Mars "Pathfinder" unmanned probe successfully landed on Mars, and also released the first Mars rover sent by humans to Mars.Although no intelligent creatures speaking or using Martian language were seen, the Mars rover observed the traces of ancient floods up close for the first time.Where there is water, there may be life.At least, those sci-fi fans who have been fantasizing about extraterrestrial civilizations have some scientific evidence to show off.

On this day, not long after the Asian financial crisis broke out, financial disasters swept through Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Japan, and South Korea in turn like the Indian Ocean tsunami later... The resulting economic recession in Southeast Asia gradually spread to Europe and the United States. Since half a year, it has been in a big shock for nearly two years. On this day, Americans who cared about the high-tech sector discovered that a stock that was already hovering at a low level has been bottoming out since the opening in the morning, creating a new low for 12 years in a row.The shocking share price of less than $14 wiped out the market value of this computer company that has been in business for more than 20 years.In fact, this stock has been in a state of collapse since the beginning of 1996, plummeting from nearly $50.At this time, many analysts are not even in the mood to predict when the company will fail.

If this company really goes bankrupt because of this, it is no exaggeration to say that in the next ten years, the history of the earth people and the way of life of the earth people will be seriously affected. The impact on the world is on a par. This computer company has a nice and delicious name-Apple. On Friday afternoon, every member of Apple's board of directors was sweating anxiously, pulling their hair to raise the company's stock price—except for one person, Gil Amelio, the 1996 member of the board of directors. In February 2010, he invited the "firefighters" who reversed the company's defeat, and he was the chief executive officer (CEO) of Apple at the time.

As the top leader in charge of the company's operations, this Amelio brother is indeed calm.On the one hand, there are stock prices that are about to collapse, and on the other hand, there are leisurely Independence Day holidays and warm family life.At this critical juncture, this man went to Lake Tahoe in Nevada for vacation with his wife, children, daughter-in-law, grandson-in-law, grandchildren, relatives and friends. While the Amelio family was enjoying water speedboats, barbecues and wine on Lake Tahoe, several Apple directors were negotiating urgently on a conference call.The company's chief financial officer (CFO), Fred Anderson, was the de facto lead.He said bluntly to several directors:

"It has almost dropped to 13 yuan. If it falls a little bit, we will be insolvent on the books, and we will probably seek bankruptcy protection. Do you want to watch the company fall into desperation? Think of a way!" "Where is Jill? Where is our CEO? Anyway, we need to hold a board meeting to study countermeasures." A director asked anxiously. "Our Mr. CEO appears to be still with his family in Nevada." "Family? Vacation? Oh my God!" Although the poor directors couldn't see each other's expressions through the phone line, most of them were so shocked that they almost grabbed the ground with their heads.

"I can't wait for him anymore." Anderson completely lost confidence in his CEO, and he said decisively, "When the company needed him to stand up, Jill failed to fulfill the responsibilities of a CEO." In this way, starting from the night of Independence Day, the directors held a 36-hour conference call in the absence of Amelio. 36 hours!Even though there was a break in the middle, I still admire the perseverance and perseverance of the directors at that time.It's not because of the bad situation of internal and external difficulties, who wants to hold a 36-hour conference call on a big weekend!

Being able to force directors to hold a 36-hour marathon meeting while he was on vacation with his family, no matter how much Mr. Amelio had tried to save Apple, this alone was enough to be fired by the board of directors.Replacing the helm of Apple has become the easiest consensus to reach at this board meeting. There are two consensuses that are not easy to reach. One is how to say goodbye to Mr. Amelio, and the other is who can pick up the mess of Apple after Amelio is gone. In fact, Apple has always had the tradition of changing its leadership, and it is not the first time that it has asked the CEO to leave here when its performance declines.Whether it is Amelio or his predecessor, I believe that when they took office, they carefully weighed the risks of sitting in this position.This is like the coach of a big-name European football club. When he takes office, he seems to have a bright future. As long as the team's performance is not good, he may be fired at any time.

To be fair, Amelio's CEO career is not useless. This "firefighter" who has only been in office for more than 500 days has indeed made a lot of efforts to save Apple, such as layoffs, departmental reorganization, and cutting projects. Common shock therapy, He has used everything that should be used, but it just doesn't work.He himself firmly believes that as long as there is enough time, his salvation plan will eventually succeed.But the board has no such patience, and the stock market lacks enough tolerance. On Sunday morning, while still on vacation, Amelio got a call from Ed Woolard, a company director.As far as Amelio knows, Woolard is watching Wimbledon in England this week.But Amelio didn't know that Woolard also participated in the board meeting remotely. When he answered the phone, he even wondered, why did he have to call all the way from England for something urgent?

Woolard cut to the chase: "Jill, the board just had a 36-hour conference call. I have some bad news for you." Amelio realized his fate of being fired the first time.However, he repeatedly argued to Woolard on the phone that he needed more time to save Apple.He even feels that Apple has shown a turning point in the latest quarter, and as long as it takes time, it will definitely turn losses into profits. Woolard didn't give Amelio much opportunity to defend himself.He said to Amelio, "Jill, marketing and sales are not your strong suit. We want someone who is good at marketing to lead the company."

Someone who is well versed in marketing?There was an ominous feeling in Amelio's heart, and a figure that had haunted him for half a year was clearly emerging in his mind at this moment.He subconsciously asked: "Ed, who knows about this decision?" "Well, of course, all the board members know," Woolard said after a clear hesitation here, and then added, "Oh, and Steve Jobs knew too." "Steve Jobs also knows?" Although Amelio had a premonition, but when he heard Woolard say the name with his own ears, he still felt that he was dreaming.