Analyst: Apple losing Tim Cook would be disastrous
Posted by Dennis Sellers 
Jun 24, 2009 at 10:56am
Apple’s Tim Cook—the chief operating officer (COO) who has run the company on a day-to-day basis during CEO Steve Job’s six-month medical leave of absence—that some investors and analysts think it’s absolutely vital that he stays onboard to lead Apple if and when Jobs steps aside.
Piper Jaffray Gene Munster told the Wall Street Journal: “At this point, losing Tim Cook would be a bigger deal to investors than if Steve Jobs stepped aside. Just that thought makes my stomach tighten up.”
The Journal says other companies, such as Dell and Motorola, have tried to get Cook to jump ship. Stephen Mader, co-head of the CEO practice at recruiters Korn/Ferry International, told Macworld UK: “Now it’s clear that Tim Cook can run any technology-based company. He’s a more attractive CEO candidate both inside Apple and outside.”
Apple COO, Cook is responsible for all of the company’s worldwide sales and operations, including end-to-end management of Apple’s supply chain, sales activities, and service and support in all markets and countries. He also heads Apple’s Macintosh division and plays a key role in the continued development of strategic reseller and supplier relationships, ensuring flexibility in response to an increasingly demanding marketplace.
Before joining Apple, Cook was vice president of Corporate Materials for Compaq and was responsible for procuring and managing all of Compaq’s product inventory. Previous to his work at Compaq, Cook was the chief operating officer of the Reseller Division at Intelligent Electronics.
Cook also spent 12 years with IBM, most recently as director of North American Fulfillment where he led manufacturing and distribution functions for IBM’s Personal Computer Company in North and Latin America.
Cook earned an M.B.A. from Duke University, where he was a Fuqua Scholar, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from Auburn University.
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Contributor
Dennis Sellers
Dennis has been a newspaper editor/reporter (seven years) and teacher (seven years). He has over 10,000 magazine, newspaper and online articles to his credit. He has also covered the Mac and tech industries for over a decade for such online publications as MacCentral, MacMinute and now MacsimumNews.
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