“There are few chief executives who are as closely identified with a company as Steve Jobs has been with Apple Inc.,” Yukari Iwatani Kane and Nick Wingfield report for The Wall Street Journal. “Now that he is stepping down as chief executive— although he will be chairman—it will largely be up to his deputies to make sure that the company continues to stay ahead of the competition with trend-setting products and services that impress consumers.”
“Since Mr. Jobs returned to Apple in 1997 after being ousted in 1985 from the company he founded, he has brought the company back from the brink of bankruptcy, revived its Macintosh computer business and played an unusually important role in the introduction of ground-breaking products like the iPod, iPhone and iPad,” Kane and Wingfield report. “As CEO, he provided a charismatic persona and sharp instinct for knowing what consumers want. But his bench is considered a strong management team that has largely stayed out of the limelight until now.”
Kane and Wingfield report, “His likely successor, Tim Cook, 50 years old, is the chief operating officer to whom he handed the reins of the company three times – once in 2004 when Mr. Jobs was recuperating from pancreatic cancer surgery, once in early 2009 when he took a six month medical leave of absence for a liver transplant and again in early 2011 for another unexplained medical leave. Mr. Cook isn’t the showman that Mr. Jobs was, but people who know him call him an “operational genius” who was responsible for crafting Apple’s current supply chain system and helping to transform the company into one of the most efficient electronics manufacturers today.”
Much more in the full article here.
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Problem is not the manufacturing of products ( Tim Cook by all accounts knows how to stream line the product line; what I’m worried about is the creative vision of those products which only Steve jobs has. Look what happened to Apple when Steve Was removed from Apple the first time Apple tanked.
Steve goe’s where no other can, his thinking is beyond what the others can only dream
Thanks steve
Steve
It was employees inside Apple who went to Steve and told him that iOS, which was being developed for a tablet device, would make a fantastic smartphone OS and that they could get a phone to market faster than a tablet.
I’m very confident that Apple will continue to innovate and push the personal computing boundaries forward to places we’ve never thought about. Steve has that philosophy ingrained in Apple’s DNA now.
Tim Cook is totally capable- already the second most accomplished CEO in tech. He’s been at the reigns as Apple has obliterated the industry (HP, Palm, RIM, microslop, etc). Steve Jobs was certainly one in a million but he has assembled a deep bench of talent. Look at how Pixar has faired since he “resigned” that CEO role- they are still the best/most dependable filmmakers in Hollywood. That’s because of Steve’s ability to recognize and empower talented people.
Still, very sad day. Thank God that he’s at least well enough to serve as the Chairman of the Board. No doubt this will not be a symbolic position. His vision will still be infused in the company.
Its not like Steve designed this stuff all on his own. He’s the guy who had the balls to make the right choices.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to make his footprint small, just saying.
As was mentioned above, vision not only came from SJ but also the employees. Steve, as he said himself, knew what to say “NO” to.
He also knew how and when to introduce it to the public. That is the magic.
I’m optimistic that Steve Jobs will remain an integral part of Apple for a long time. I liked his letter and thought it was classy, especially where he asked to remain an “Apple employee.” (Maybe he’ll even get a raise from his current $1 CEO salary.)
Tim Cook is the ideal person to take over as CEO at a time when Apple is experiencing unprecedented growth. He IS Mr. Operations Guru. Apple DOES have a very “deep bench” of creative people, many hand-picked and elevated by Steve Jobs. What Apple needs at the TOP is someone who can keep it all organized, headed in one direction, tuned to peak efficiency, and focused like a laser. That person is Tim Cook. He already knows how, because he’s already been doing it.
My only concern is for Steve and family. Apple will be just fine. We all know how badly Disney did without Walt atvthe helm!
What a lot of people don’t know is that Steve actually had one direct report at Apple: me! I reported to Steve, and everybody else reported, directly or indirectly, to Tim Cook, who in turn didn’t report to anybody. Interesting, no?
Operations guy is way better then the sales guy. Apple will do great
as long as Johnny I’ve, Scott Forstall, Phil Schiller, etc., stick around, Apple will be good to go for ten more years.
If some of them start to leave, I’ll be worried.
List of 20 strategies used by men of genius:
1st vision
2nd passion
3rd faith
4th engagement
5th planning
6th stubbornness
7th Learning from mistakes
8th substantive knowledge
9th Understanding how the mind works
10th imagination
11th positive attitude
12th autosuggestion
13th intuition
14th External advisors and mentors
15th Internal mentors and advisors
16th Truth / honesty
17th courage
18th creativity
19th Love of executed
tasks
20th Energy (physical / mental)
Regards
Arguments over who is best to follow Steve simply prove there’s no one – no one – who can follow Steve.
Apple Inc. has many talented and unquestionably astute and eminently qualified engineers, salesmen, technocrats, bureaucrats et al, but there has only been one true ‘Visioary and Genius’ and that cannot replaced any time soon. Thank you Steve jobs we will miss you and we sincerely hope that your legacy lives on and Apple Inc. achieves the mantra it richly deserves.
Don’t forget Jony Ive! iPhone, iMac, iPad etc are his children too! Jobs had something that most people DELIBERATELY oversee: An eye for innovators… That eye is what brought Scott Forestall, Jony Ive and Tim Cook in to Apple. Did you honestly believe that a CEO of Steve’s Caliver wouldn’t have planned Apple’s future for at least another 20 years ahead by picking the best people to do the job? Well, to all the naysayers out there… You haven’t seen nothing yet!
Ahhh, just think how many companies where their stock would have gone UP with the announcement that their CEO was resigning.
Guys, as much as I think His Steveness deserves his sainthood wings, let’s not forget that steve himself as prepared Apple for this moment for decades.
Give the man the credit he deserves.