Gil Amelio was Apple’s CEO immediately before Steve Jobs returned to the company in 1997.
Amelio became Apple’s chief executive in February 1996, succeeding Michael Spindler. His tenure focused on reducing costs and restructuring Apple during a period when the company was struggling with declining sales and an unclear product strategy.
Apple acquired NeXT in December 1996, bringing Jobs back as an adviser. After disagreements over Apple’s direction, Jobs gradually gained influence and became interim CEO in July 1997, replacing Amelio. Jobs later dropped the “interim” designation in 2000.
A common mix-up is identifying John Sculley as the CEO directly before Jobs’s return. Sculley led Apple from 1983 to 1993, while Spindler served from 1993 to 1996. Fred Anderson was Apple’s chief financial officer during Jobs’s early return period, not the CEO.