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It's often said that in 1996, NeXT acquired Apple and paid negative 400 million dollars. Jobs was able to bring his team and technology from NeXT to become the
by pavlov 6y ago
It's often said that in 1996, NeXT acquired Apple and paid negative 400 million dollars.
Jobs was able to bring his team and technology from NeXT to become the new core at Apple, and fire everyone who didn't want to play along. Elop had no such luxury.
- toyg 6y agoElop did not have Jobs’s CV, inclinations, instincts, or knowledge either. Jobs was a founder, Elop is a careerist. He was handed the biggest job of his life and, in the most charitable reading, blew it horribly.
- pavlov 6y agoHe sold a loss-making business for $4 billion without giving up the brand or any other long-term IP. I wish I could blow my failed ventures so horribly. And it indeed was a failed venture by the time Elop got there.
- huihe9849hjjgkg 6y agoHow do you sell a business four billion? Easy, start with a business worth $30 billion.
- pavlov 6y agoThe mobile devices unit was on a rapid trajectory towards zero already in 2010. In an alternate reality where Vanjoki bet the company on Meego, that business would still be bankrupt today, just without the $4B payment from Microsoft. Nokia kept the parts of their business that actually were worth something, and used the MS money to buy more marketshare in networks. It was a good deal.