Michael Spindler

Spindler graduated from engineering at Technical University in Cologne in 1964 and worked at DEC and Intel, before he moved to join Apple Computer. Having joined Apple in 1980 after Mike Markkula brought him over to help out with marketing at Apple's European office, he rose through the ranks in Apple's European operations as President of Apple Europe, then President of Apple International. Michael Spindler had built a reputation as a great strategist in business tactics. One of his most successful strategies that soared Apple's global sales included giving Apple's various territories more autonomy over their marketing strategies. In January 1990, then CEO of Apple, John Sculley, appointed Spindler to be Apple's chief operating officer. He was nicknamed "The Diesel" due to his strong work ethic.

On October 15, 1993, Spindler was chosen as Apple's CEO when John Sculley was ousted by Apple's board of directors. Spindler presided over several successful projects, such as the introduction of the PowerPC, as well as some major failures, including the Newton and the Copland operating system. Spindler shied away from the spotlight preferring instead to work on operational management and strategy without fanfare. After Spindler became CEO, he did not make a public appearance for four months. "I never was an operations guy", Spindler said. "That's not my strength at all". One of his first moves as CEO included massive cost-cutting measures such as laying off workers, ending costly projects and cutting down on R&D projects, freezing executive salaries. During his tenure the Apple board authorized merger discussions with IBM, Sun Microsystems and Philips, but when these went nowhere, he was replaced by Gil Amelio on February 2, 1996.

After Apple, Spindler worked at Upstart Capital, Daimler-Benz, and Bertelsmann. He also "served as a trustee for the American Film Institute".

From 1985 until his death in 2016, Spindler lived between Paris, France, and San Francisco, California, United States, with his wife Maryse and three kids Karen, Laurie, and John.