Jean-Louis Gassée

Jean-Louis Gassée (born March 1944 in Paris, France) is a business executive and former President of Apple Products at Apple Computer.

Career
In 1981, Gassée became director of Apple Computer's European operations based in France, which became the company's largest business unit outside of the United States. In 1985, Gassée found out that Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was attempting a boardroom coup in Cupertino. Gassée tipped off CEO John Sculley, who succeeded in getting the board to strip Jobs of his managerial duties. After Jobs left Apple in September 1985 to start NeXT, Gassée was placed in charge of the Macintosh unit as VP of Product Development. In 1987, he introduced the Macintosh SE and II. He was promoted to President of Apple Products in August 1988. Gassée left Apple in September 1990, after his strategy to maintain high prices and profit margins in the Macintosh line was passed over in favor of COO Michael Spindler's plan to grow market share.

After Apple
Gassée founded Be Inc. in 1991 with former Apple colleague Steve Sakoman. In 1996, Apple sought to acquire Be for $120 million to obtain its BeOS operating system to replace its troubled Copland project. Apple continued bidding up to $200 million, but Gassée asked for $275 million. When Steve Jobs found out about the negotiations, he called Apple CTO Ellen Hancock to advise against the purchase. Apple instead acquired NeXT and brought back Jobs as an advisor. Be sold BeOS to PalmSource in August 1991. On November 2, 2004, Gassée became chairman of PalmSource.

Articles

 * How Jean Louis Gassée Changed the Mac’s Direction by Tom Hormby at Low End Mac (2005-06-20)