Apple’s Tim Cook has transformed the company since taking over as CEO from Steve Jobs in 2011. Introducing a new product category called smartwatches and entering video streaming services. He also embarked on a bold attempt to bring a new type of computing called mixed reality (MR) into the mainstream.
Mr. Cook, who has been in office much longer than the average CEO of a Fortune 500 company, is 63 years old and older than many of his peers. Even if it seemed like a logical time for Mr. Cook to start planning for Apple’s next chapter to go to someone else, the situation is complicated by the lack of a ready-to-read, long-term successor. is complicated.
Mr. Cook hasn’t made many changes to Apple’s management team. The company is made up mostly of close colleagues who have worked together since the Jobs era, and aside from the departure of designer Jony Ive and the arrival and departure of Angela Ahrendts as head of retail, the company has remained in the company for the past 10 years. There is almost no change. Like Mr. Cook, his key aides are old and rich enough to have retired years ago.
Apple has many issues to address. The company is trying to prevent App Store, which generates annual sales of $20 billion, from collapsing under scrutiny from regulators in the United States and the European Union.
Smartphone sales are declining and Apple is struggling to sell its devices in China, but it wants to gradually withdraw production there without angering the government. And there is always a need to make the next major product a hit. After the launch of the MR headset “Vision Pro” and the abandonment of development of electric vehicles (EVs), this will probably be the decisive challenge for the successor.
On British singer Dua Lipa’s podcast held in November last year,long interviewIn the interview, Mr. Cook made his most profound comments yet about his successor. “My job is to prepare a few people to take over. I really want to hire an Apple insider. My role is to make sure the board has a few people to choose from.” Ta. Mr. Cook gave no hints as to who might succeed him, but said the company’s plans are “very detailed.”
Investors are talking about a successor, said Toni Sacconaghi, a Sanford C. Bernstein analyst who has covered Apple for 20 years. “When you look at the executive list, it’s not very clear what’s going to happen,” Sacconaghi said. “It raises broader questions about whether Apple has a comprehensive and well-thought-out succession plan.” It pointed out.
Multiple people familiar with Apple’s internal affairs recently spoke to Bloomberg Businessweek about the issue. If Cook were to retire early, his successor would almost certainly be Jeff, who emerged as a top candidate to succeed him several years ago, said the people, who requested anonymity because the topic is sensitive. He will become Williams’ chief operating officer (COO).
In 2015, Cook named Williams COO. In the same year, Williams led the market launch of the Apple Watch, the first major new product under Cook’s tenure as CEO. Four years later, Williams replaced Ive as head of hardware and software design.
Williams speaks with customers at his store in Palo Alto, California.
Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
But Mr. Williams, who turned 61 this year, is only two years younger than Mr. Cook, making him less likely to become a long-serving new CEO, insiders say. Apple’s board likely wants executives like Cook and Jobs who can stay in office for at least 10 years.
A veteran Apple executive said, “If you had asked me five years ago, it would have been obvious that Jeff[Williams]was the top candidate for CEO.However, changes at the executive level have been slow, so it’s hard to decide who to bring in.” The question remains whether it can be done.”
There is no reason to think that a change in top management is imminent. Mr. Cook may be older than the CEOs of other tech companies in the S&P 500 index, but he is not the oldest person to run a large company. “If Mr. Trump or Mr. Biden can become president at age 80, Mr. Cook can remain Apple’s CEO for much longer. In the past, CEOs were automatically forced to retire at age 65. The world has changed. ” said a person who knew Mr. Cook.
Cook has not said how long he will remain CEO, other than to tell Dua Lipa “for a while,” but those close to him believe he will continue as CEO for at least three more years. Mr. Cook will then start a charitable foundation to which he will donate the wealth he accumulated at Apple.
If Cook stays that long, his most likely successor would be hardware engineering chief John Ternas, people at the company say. At Apple, which has achieved success by creating category-defining gadgets, it seems logical that a hardware engineering expert would take the CEO position. Mr. Tarnas, who is still just shy of 50, is likely to stay with the company longer than other executives and could bring Mr. Cook’s stability for another decade or more.
Mr. Tarnas is well-liked within the company and has earned the respect of Mr. Cook, Mr. Williams and other executives. “He’s a good presenter, he’s very warm-hearted, he doesn’t say anything controversial in his emails, and he’s a very modest decision-maker, which is why he’s Tim[Cook]’s favorite,” he told the executive team. A close source says: Eddie Cue, an Apple executive known to be one of Mr. Cook’s closest allies, told colleagues privately that Mr. Tarnas should become the next CEO, according to people familiar with the matter.
Apple is increasingly using Mr. Tarnas as a company representative to introduce new products. He spearheaded the iPad tablet launch event on May 7th and led the introduction of the new iPad Pro and iPad Air. He toured Europe last year speaking about environmental initiatives, an area of concern to Mr. Cook.But the biggest sign of Mr. Tarnas’ growing profile was a 30-minute video session last December, mostly about tips.TV interviewright.
Mr. Ternas spoke at Apple’s developer conference in 2022.
Photographer: Christoph Dernbach/picture alliance/Getty Images
Tarnas joined Apple in 2001 and was initially in charge of external monitors for Mac computers. Jobs was still young during his heyday and had few opportunities to interact directly with his co-founder. Over the course of more than 20 years, he gradually became responsible for all iPad products, then Mac and wireless earphones “AirPods”, and in 2020 he was responsible for the smartphone “iPhone”. A year later, he was named head of hardware, and the Apple Watch hardware engineering team recently reported to Tarnus rather than Williams.
In addition to Mr. Tarnas, former executives say other names mentioned include software engineering departments that are well-known among Apple fans and known within the company for their knowledge of corporate issues outside of their purview. Craig Federighi, Cook’s chief of staff, and Deirdre O’Brien, Cook’s confidant and head of retail. However, according to people close to the company, it is unlikely that either of them will become his successors.
Mr. O’Brien (left) and Mr. Federighi (right)
Photos: Getty Images
Some insiders say the best approach for Apple to maintain its edge may be to consider hiring outside talent. “The only way to avoid becoming a company like IBM is for someone to come in with a really revolutionary new idea, and we don’t know who that person is,” says one Apple person. .
But that scenario probably won’t be considered. Another Apple veteran said the company has often struggled to fit in executive talent from outside the company, saying, “It’s going to be an insider because it’s an exclusive group.”
(Original article published in “Bloomberg Businessweek” magazine)
Original title:The Apple Insiders in the Running to Succeed Cook(excerpt)