Everything from what’s cooking at Apple, to Huawei, Alibaba and Zoox
TODAY, Tim Cook will mark the seventh anniversary of his ascension as Apple’s seventh chief executive.
At 57, he’s in his prime, and all signs point to a durable tenure. When Apple’s board named Cook chief executive back in 2011, the directors signed him on for a decade with massive stock awards that finish vesting in the summer of 2021. On his anniversary, Cook is set to collect stock worth about $120 million (R1.7 billion) thanks to a run-up in Apple shares.
Cook is the face of Apple. And design supremo Jony Ive is arguably the next-most important executive. But more than 100 other folks collectively help run the world’s most valuable company.
Apple rarely discusses succession planning, and when asked about it at the company’s most recent shareholder meeting, Cook said “passing the baton” wisely is one of his most crucial responsibilities.
If Cook were to leave his post in the near term, potential successors would include chief operating officer Jeff Williams, whose profile has risen steadily inside and outside Apple, and marketing boss Phil Schiller.
Other skilled leaders include services head Eddy Cue, software leader Craig Federighi, top chip engineer Johny Srouji, hardware leader Dan Riccio, semi-retired car project chief Bob Mansfield and, of course, Ive. Chief financial officer Luca Maestri, retail head Angela Ahrendts and general counsel Kate Adams.
Beneath them are dozens of vice-presidents, and Bloomberg picked 15 who are crucial to the Apple of today and the company of tomorrow.
Greg Joswiak – or Joz as he’s known at Apple – may be the most important executive not featured on the company’s executive profiles page. He’s become central to product launches and recently debuted a low-priced iPad for students.
A couple of years ago, Joz got oversight of marketing for all Apple products, ranging from iPhones to iPads to the Apple TV, Apple Watch and applications.
Joswiak helps dream up new products and is considered critical to the company’s success. He reports directly to Schiller, and insiders believe he could eventually succeed his boss. Joswiak got his start at Apple decades ago, running marketing for the PowerBook laptop, gaining more responsibility and eventually taking over iPod then iPhone and iOS marketing.
“If there’s ever another major shake-up at Apple,” says someone familiar with the company, “he’s the guy to keep an eye on.”
Tim Twerdahl joined Apple in 2017 from Amazon, where he ran the Fire TV business.
While Apple TV never became the hit Steve Jobs hoped it would, the set-top box is doing better.
On the company’s last earnings call, Cook said the 4K version was enjoying double-digit growth. Twerdahl is in charge of turning the Apple TV, along with the TV app pre-installed across Apple devices, into the ideal stage for Apple’s upcoming original content efforts.
Twerdahl reports to Joswiak.