Apple execs leave; Jobs moves in

In and out the revolving door.

As four Apple Computer (AAPL) executives leave their offices, the company's founder Steve Jobs is expected to move into some vacant office space.

"Gil [Amelio] asked someone on the R&D campus to allocate some office space," a source said.

Both moves are aftershocks of last week's major reorganization, a reorganization that placed Jobs's favorites in key new positions while pushing some existing managers into less powerful positions.

Apple's public relations department did not return phone calls.

Satjiv Chahil, former head of corporate worldwide marketing; John Floisand, senior vice president for worldwide sales; and Fred Forsyth, senior vice president of Apple's Power Mac operations, were pushed out of the company after a reshuffling of its executive management team earlier this month, a source said.

Chahil, who was named an adviser to Apple's marketing department, left the company ten days ago. He was in Europe and could not reached for comment. Guerrino De Luca, who had previously headed the company's Claris subsidiary, will take over his post.

Floisand, meanwhile, was replaced by Marco Landi. The former chief operating officer in charge of Apple's overall business plans saw his duties reduced as he was named to head the company's worldwide sales and support organization.

Christopher Escher, former vice president of corporate communications, left the company to take a job at Cunningham Communications, and Fred Forsyth, senior vice president of the company's Power Mac computer division, also left the company following the reshuffling.

Apple, which is looking to pare $400 million in operating costs, has promised layoffs and additional restructuring in order to move the computer maker back to profitability.

The company has said it expects to begin announcing its restructuring plans by the end of March.