Apple leadership - page 2

The head of the team developing the promised AI-enhanced Siri had to admit the recent decision to significantly delay the release gave Apple’s reputation a major black eye, according to a report published Friday.

Robby Walker, Apple’s senior director of Siri and information intelligence, reportedly called the delay “ugly” during a recent all-hands meeting with his team. He gave an update on how close Apple is to having the technology ready, but couldn’t promise when it will ship. At present, the “smarter” Siri reportedly still fails to work correctly a significant percentage of the time.

March 4, 2014: Peter Oppenheimer, the Apple chief financial officer who presided over a decade of skyrocketing growth, steps down from the company.

After becoming Apple CFO in 2004, Oppenheimer saw the company’s valuation soar from $8.8 billion to $471 billion. Luca Maestri replaced Oppenheimer in this crucial position.

February 25, 1981: Apple CEO Michael Scott oversees a mass firing of employees, then holds a massive party. The Apple layoffs follow a hiring boom that led to what Scott called a “bozo explosion” at the company. They also stand as an early sign that the fun startup culture of Apple’s early days are gone forever.

“I used to say that when being CEO at Apple wasn’t fun anymore, I’d quit,” he tells a crowd of Apple staffers. “But now I’ve changed my mind — when being CEO isn’t fun anymore, I’ll just fire people until it is fun again.”

For many people at Apple, the day is the worst in company history.

Apple just appointed seasoned executive Kim Vorrath to spearhead improvements to its artificial intelligence capabilities and Siri virtual assistant, signaling renewed focus on competing with AI leaders like OpenAI and Anthropic, according to a new report Friday.

November 9, 1994: Gil Amelio, a businessman with a reputation as a talented turnaround artist, joins Apple’s board.

Coming off his impressive revitalization of two other tech companies, National Semiconductor and Rockwell International, Amelio’s appointment at Apple sparks widespread celebration. Many Apple watchers think his arrival means the company’s dark days are over. Sadly, Amelio’s turnaround tricks won’t work in Cupertino.

DJ Novotney first started at Apple in June 1999, and now he’s been lured away by electric-car-maker Rivian.

Over his two decades  with the company, he helped design many iconic Apple products, including iPod, iPhone, iPad and more.

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Tim Cook recently said Apple has “very detailed” succession plans for when he eventually steps down as CEO. Plus, the company definitely plans to hire from within. That got us thinking … who’s next in Apple’s game of thrones?

Also on The CultCast:

• OLED screens might come to iPad Air and iPad mini somewhat soonish.
• Europe’s busybody technocrats have some more grand plans for Apple and other manufacturers. We’ve got mixed emotions.
• Sonos reportedly wants to take on Apple TV and AirPods Max with rival products.

Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.

Carol Surface is reportedly stepping in as Apple’s new Chief People Officer, the company’s term for head of human resources.

She’s taking over part of the responsibilities of Deirdre O’Brien who was previously both the HR chief and in charge of managing Apple’s retail store business.

Apple reportedly stopped looking for a replacement industrial design chief. This is surprising, as it’s a high-profile position once held by Jony Ive, who led the team that created the iconic look of the iPhone, iMac and more.

The corporate rearrangement increases the power of Jeff Williams — Apple’s chief operating officer and possibly Tim Cook’s eventual replacement as CEO.

Accelerating work on its self-driving electric vehicle project, Apple recruited veteran Ford engineer and executive Desi Ujkashevic to join the team.

The move comes after various stalls and road bumps in Cupertino’s secretive Project Titan in recent years, including Ford luring away Apple car chief Doug Field last year.

The person responsible for overseeing the transition from Intel to Apple silicon left the company. Jeff Wilcox was Director, Mac System Architecture before his departure.

He summed up his previous role by saying he “led the transition for all Macs to Apple Silicon beginning with M1 chip.” That was one of the most important projects at Apple in recent years, though it’s one that’s wrapping up.

It’s good to be the CEO — Apple chief executive Tim Cook was paid $98.7 million in 2021. That’s a combination of a base salary, an incentive plan and other compensation, but the lion’s share is in Apple stock.

Other top Apple executives also have 8-figure annual compensation packages, if not anywhere close to Cook’s.

While Steve Jobs died 10 years ago today, he lives on as a way to criticize Apple’s current management.

In some people’s misguided memories, Jobs did no wrong. Ever. And members of this reality-challenged group — let’s call it the Church of Steve Jobs — frequently post comments on social media like, “Apple would be so much better if Steve Jobs were still in charge.”

But in reality, Jobs made plenty of mistakes. Here are some of his worst foul-ups.

Development of an Apple car just hit another speed bump. Doug Field, who’d reportedly been managing the project, just left to join the Ford Motor Company.

This is surely a blow to Apple’s secretive automotive efforts. And the company was already multiple years away from having anything to put in a showroom, according to the latest leaks.

Apple CEO Tim Cook is one of the best paid U.S. executives according to a new report. He pulled in a whopping $265 million in 2020 from his salary, bonus, and stock awards.

But that’s chump change compared to what Elon Musk made.

Since he came out as gay eight years ago, Apple CEO Tim Cook has led the company through the most successful period in its history. Cook once said he wanted to prove you can “be gay and still go on and do some big jobs in life.” He’s certainly done that.

But maybe there’s more to this story than overcoming prejudice. In 2018, Cook told CNN that being gay is “God’s greatest gift to me.” Far from a disadvantage, could being gay actually be an instrumental part of his success?

As a gay man myself, Cook has always been an inspiration for me. So to celebrate Pride Month, here’s why I think being gay made him a better CEO.

A job opening at Apple for an “Alternative Payments” business manager set off a wave of speculation that the iPhone-maker is getting into cryptocurrency.

It’s apparently a change of heart by CEO Tim Cook, who’s on the record as being opposed to privately controlled currencies.

The reports of Beats’ death are (reportedly) greatly exaggerated. Rather than phasing out the brand, as had been rumored, Apple put Scott Croyle, the former head of product design at phone-maker HTC, in charge of crafting new Beats headphones, according to an unconfirmed report.

April 29, 1997: Steve Jobs’ friend Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle, calls off his bid to take over Apple.

Ellison’s plan is to reinstall Jobs, who is then just an adviser to Apple CEO Gil Amelio, as the company’s chief executive. He also wants to take Apple private again.

Dan Riccio, one of Apple’s top designers, is moving to a mysterious new role in Cupertino.

After joining Apple in 1998, Riccio worked on loads of groundbreaking products, from the first iMac to last year’s AirPods Max and the M1-powered Macs. Now, he’s become Apple’s “vice president of engineering.”

Going forward, Riccio says he will be “focusing all my time and energy at Apple on creating something new and wonderful that I couldn’t be more excited about,” according to a press release Monday.

Apple’s self-driving car division is reportedly on the move, but not in the usual way. The project has been transferred into Apple’s artificial intelligence division.

The reorg comes at the retirement of Bob Mansfield, who’d been managing the company’s not-so-secret autonomous vehicle development.

Tim Cook quoted poet Maya Angelou in a tweet commemorating Steve Jobs on Monday, the ninth anniversary of the Apple co-founder’s death.

“A great soul never dies,” Cook’s message reads. “It brings us together again and again.” Cook also added a personal note: “You’re always with us Steve, your memory connects and inspires us every day.”

Meanwhile, on the Apple website, admirers’ remembrances of Jobs flowed across a tribute page.

For long-time Apple fans like myself, Tuesday marked the end of an era. Phil Schiller stepped down from his role as VP of worldwide marketing.

Schiller was the last of the OG — a stalwart onstage companion to Steve Jobs, long before it was fashionable to watch Apple keynotes. Schiller was there at all the seminal moments in Apple history, including the launch of iMac, iPod, iPhone and iPad. Back in the day, he and Jobs were a remarkable double act. Jobs would announce the products, and then Schiller would stride in to perform the demos.

Fortunately, Schiller’s not gone for good. In his new role as an Apple Fellow, he will still keep an eye on the App Store and Apple Events. But I wanted to take this opportunity to remember the man, the legend, that is Phil Schiller. Here are the top 10 reasons why I’ll miss him.

The Apple board of directors just lost a powerful member: Disney CEO Bob Iger. His resignation, revealed by an Apple filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission, comes as Disney and Apple prepare to launch competing streaming services.

Meanwhile, the new Disney offering garnered a rave early review that called it “more addictive than heroin.”

Jony Ive began to drift away from Apple shortly after the Apple Watch launched, a new report claims. The Apple design chief’s waning enthusiasm caused problems during development of the iPhone X and other products.

Following news that Ive is finished at Apple (at least as a full-time employee), this account backs up earlier reports stating that he had had one foot out the door for a while. In some cases, Ive’s long goodbye made things difficult for his co-workers.