“In December 1996, then-Apple CEO Gil Amelio paid $400 million to acquire Steve Jobs’ NeXT. Jobs’ second coming as CEO turned Apple into a powerhouse,” Peter Cohan writes for Forbes. “And 18 years later, Tim Cook spent $3 billion — 2% of its cash — to acquire Jimmy Iovine’s Beats.”
“Will Iovine replace Cook like Jobs replaced Amelio?” Cohan writes. “If so, this deal could be a catalyst for Apple stock.”
“Beats’ co-founders Iovine and Dr. Dre will work for Apple. According to the Times they will report to Apple’s content chief, Eddie Cue, who reports to Cook. But with all the lavish praise of Iovine’s ability to inspire talent to write hits and to envision how the music industry will evolve, he evokes memories of Jobs’ creative genius,” Cohan writes. “What Apple really needs is a visionary leader who can tap enormous new profit pools. And Tim Cook is not that person.”
“If Iovine can convince Apple’s board that he can do that — perhaps Cook can find comfort in the role where he used to excel — making Apple’s trains run on time while Iovine figures out where they should go,” Cohan writes. “Unless Tim Cook just bought his successor for $3 billion, my guess is that Iovine will not be satisfied reporting to Cue and will leave once he gets his money.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: The lack of respect afforded Tim Cook in some quarters is appalling.
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