Nobody can deny new Apple CEO Tim Cook is a business wunderkind. While co-founder Steve Jobs was out on temporary sick-leave (now made permanent), Cook repeatedly churned out record sales and profit. But some believe Cook will need help getting the ‘vision thing’ that was second-nature for Jobs.
Although one former Apple employee sees Tim Cook as “the person who really runs Apple,” the ex-Cupertino worker believes Apple staff don’t see Cook as “that visionary guy” able to fill Jobs’ shoes. Because Apple’s envious profits depend on offering gorgeously-designed products for which fans will readily pay premium prices, the “vision thing” is important to the bottom line. Which makes it all the more important that the former CEO wants to stick around as a member of Apple’s board.
“I’ve been fortunate to be able to go and see [Steve Jobs] and he’s been willing to show me the future a couple times,” Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff told PCMag. Benioff made waves last week when he revealed he had given Jobs the App Store trademark out of gratitude for advice Apple’s now ex-CEO had given him in the past.
I agree with the 2008 Fortune profile of Cook that he’ll need advisors to help fill in the gap. If Jobs had Cook, who will be Cook’s go-to person?
