Apple leadership - page 2

Huge stock award lets Apple CEO Tim Cook pull in cool $98.7 million in 2021

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Tim Cook earnings apple
Tim Cook’s compensation package for 2021 is more than 6x what it was in the previous year.
Illustration: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

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.

Let’s close the doors on the Church of Steve Jobs

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Let’s close the doors on the Church of Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs was brilliant but let’s stop making him the patron saint of computing.
Photo: Cult of Mac/acaben/Flickr CC

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.

Top Apple car exec hits off-ramp, heads for Detroit instead

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That's the signpost up ahead - your next stop, the Apple Car. The Apple Car is way down the highway. But Apple has the pedal to the metal.
The man reportedly running Apple car development has taken an exit.
Photo illustration: Cult of Mac/Wikipedia CC

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.

Tim Cook netted a cool $265 million from Apple in 2020

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Tim Cook earnings apple
Tim Cook is in 8th place on Bloomberg‘s list of highest paid CEOs and executives.
Illustration: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

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.

Does being gay make Tim Cook a better CEO?

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Apple CEO Tim Cook calls being gay
Tim Cook calls being gay "God's greatest gift."
Photo: thierry ehrmann/Flickr CC

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.

Apple could be cashing into cryptocurrency

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Apple could be cashing into cryptocurrency
Apple is exploring alternative payment systems, and the magic word “cryptocurrency” came up.
Photo: Apple/Cult of Mac

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.

Ex-HTC design chief works on next-gen Beats headphones

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Apple Beats PowerBeats in red
A new head of design means Apple will offer plenty more headphones to follow these Beats PowerBeats.
Photo: Apple

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.

Today in Apple history: Larry Ellison calls off Apple takeover plans

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Larry Ellison
The takeover didn't happen, but it still changed Apple history.
Photo: Oracle Corporate Communications

April 29: Today in Apple history: Larry Ellison calls off Apple takeover plans 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.

Top Apple engineer moves to mysterious new project

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What is top Apple hardware engineer Dan Riccio up to now?
What is top Apple hardware engineer Dan Riccio up to now?
Photo: Apple

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 autonomous car unit gets a new driver

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The Apple Car won‘t look anything like this. At all.
The Apple autonomous vehicle project is now part of the company’s AI division.
Illustration: Cult of Mac

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 tweets tribute to Steve Jobs on 9th anniversary of his death

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“The Big Night In” was raising funds for charity, and Tim Cook dropped by the help.
Tim Cook remembers his friend and former boss.
Photo: BBC TV

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.

10 reasons why I’ll miss Phil Schiller

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As Phil Schiller steps down from his role as Apple's SVP of worldwide marketing, it's clear the company won't be the same without him.
It won't be the same without him.
Photo: Globovisión/Flickr CC

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.

Disney CEO resigns from Apple board as streaming war heats up

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With Apple TV+ ready to compete against Disney+, Bob Iger resigns from the Apple board.
With Apple TV+ ready to compete against Disney+, Bob Iger resigned from the Apple board.
Photo: Josh Hallett/Flickr CC

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’s absence from Apple caused iPhone X headaches

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iPhone X Product Red Wallpaper
The iPhone X had a "rough development cycle."
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

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.

Jony Ive and the ‘fiddle factor’ [Cult of Mac Magazine No. 303]

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The
The "fiddle factor" is the tactile magic of Apple design.
Cover: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

What will Apple miss most as design chief Jony Ive spacewalks out of the spaceship campus? We think it’s the “fiddle factor” he injected into all his best Apple design.

Find out all about this tactile innovation in this week’s free issue of Cult of Mac Magazine for iOS. We’ve got the lowdown on Ive’s exit — and the elusive “>Evans Hankey, the woman who will lead Apple’s famous Industrial Design studio going forward.

If you prefer to read in a browser, you can find links to the week’s best Apple news, reviews and how-tos below.

Tim Cook discusses Jony Ive departure in memo to Apple employees

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Jony Ive
Jony Ive is finally free.
Photo: Apple

Apple CEO Tim Cook sent a memo to all Apple employees Thursday informing them that long-time Chief Design Officer Jony Ive is leaving the company.

Instead of talking about the giant hole Ive will leave behind, Cook spun the Apple design guru’s exit as an “important evolution” for the company. He also talked about how great it will be for everyone as Ive pursues his passions as head of his new design firm, LoveFrom.

Introducing Tim Cook: The Genius Who Took Apple to the Next Level

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Tim Cook book cover
Learn all about Apple's current CEO.
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

Tim Cook is seriously underrated. Seven years after taking over as CEO from Steve Jobs, the narrative that he’s riding his predecessor’s coattails needs to change. It’s just not true.

Cook is his own man, transforming Apple in his own way. See Monday’s Apple credit card and subscription News+ app as examples, which are centered on customer privacy, a big Tim Cook mandate.

The company today is a better corporate citizen than it was in the past. And as a business, it’s firing on all cylinders. Cook is doing almost everything right. Some pundits are beginning to argue he’s Apple’s best CEO yet.

Happy birthday, Jony Ive: Apple’s design genius turns 52

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Jony Ive
Jony Ive has been at Apple since 1992.
Screenshot: Vanity Fair/YouTube

Today marks the 52nd birthday of Jony Ive, Apple’s much-admired chief design officer. As the shaper of products including, well, virtually everything that Apple builds, Ive has been a central presence since Steve Jobs’ return to Cupertino in the late 1990s.

To celebrate his birthday, check out one of Ive’s most interesting interviews. Happy birthday, Jony!

Today in Apple history: Mac creator complains about Steve Jobs

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Jobs
Young Steve Jobs wasn't exactly easy to work with!
Photo: Esther Dyson/Flickr CC

February 19 Today in Apple history: Mac creator Jef Raskin complains about Steve Jobs February 19, 1981: Jef Raskin, creator of the Macintosh project, sends a memo to Apple CEO Mike Scott, listing his many complaints about working with Steve Jobs.

He claims that Jobs, who joined the Mac team the previous month, is tardy, shows bad judgment, interrupts people, doesn’t listen and is a bad manager.

Quit or canned? Why is Angela Ahrendts leaving Apple? [Opinion]

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Ahrendts
Did Angela Ahrendts jump or was she pushed?
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

When Apple fires an executive, the company is rarely straightforward about the situation. Apple never puts out a press release stating plainly that the executive was canned. So Tuesday’s unexpected announcement that Angela Ahrendts, Apple’s head of retail, is leaving in April led many to suspect she was fired.

That’s because the announcement came as a surprise and seems rushed. She’s certainly not retiring or quitting to join another company. The press release phrase “new personal and professional pursuits” sounds like code for “canned.”

What you need to know about Deirdre O’Brien, Apple’s new head of retail

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Deirdre O’Brien, a 30-year Apple veteran, will lead Apple’s Retail and People teams.
30-year Apple veteran Deirdre O’Brien will handle the company's retail push.
Photo: Apple

Apple tapped Deirdre O’Brien to be its new retail boss today in light of the news that Angela Ahrendts plans to leave the company.

While O’Brien may not be a household name to most Apple fans, she’s been with the company for more than three decades. From the days of Steve Jobs saving Apple from bankruptcy to watching Tim Cook leading the company to a first-ever $1 trillion valuation, O’Brien has seen huge changes during her tenure with the iPhone-maker. Now she’s set to be one of the most powerful people in Silicon Valley.

Here are six things you didn’t know about the new Apple retail boss.

Steve Jobs stood in the lunch line like a regular Joe

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Steve Jobs
Be careful in the cafeteria line. You never know when your boss is behind you.
Photo: Apple

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs was known to be incredibly demanding. But one retired Apple executive said when it came to standing in line in the company cafeteria, Jobs waited his turn like everyone else.

This would not be a surprising revelation about most people, but Jobs’ mercurial nature is the stuff of legend. The late Apple exec’s moods and commands have been the source material for books and movies. His character is even sung about on the opera stage.