Gil Amelio, former CEO of Apple, had the shortest tenure of all Apple CEOs, but also had a significant impact on the company's survival. He was instrumental in the acquisition of NeXT and the subsequent reinstating Steve Jobs, who was later brought back to Apple. Amamelio was invited to join Apple's board by then-CEO Michael Spindler, but claims he started working on the board in 1985. In his book "On The Firing Line: My 500 Days at Apple," he describes how Steve Jobs sought Amelman's backing by championing Jobs' return to Apple, but Amelman was not convinced. He also mentioned that he asked Jobs what he would do first as Apple CEO, specifically what would replace the Mac.