In a watershed event Apple’s Board of Directors has announced that Steve Jobs has resigned as Chief Executive Officer and the Board has named Tim Cook, previously Apple’s Chief Operating Officer, as the company’s new CEO. Jobs has been elected Chairman of the Board and Cook will join the Board, effective immediately.
Jobs first announced his resignation as CEO of the company in the following letter:
I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.
I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee. As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.
I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role. I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.
Steve
As people sat back and took it in the news, Bloomberg conducted a telephone interview with Apple co-founder Steve “The Woz” Wozniak, asking him for his thoughts on the news, what might be behind Jobs’ decision to quit and what will happen to Apple now that he has stepped down from his role at the company. When asked about the early days of Apple, Wozniak said that Jobs always “wanted to be an important person”, adding that he “wanted to do it by having a company”.
Having ended his full-time employment with Apple nearly 25 years ago, Wozniak is said to maintain connections to Jobs, but when asked about why his friend and fellow business creator was leaving the company, his response shed no further light why Jobs chose today to announce his departure as CEO, stating; “I’m not close enough to him now to tell you what his reasons were for resigning”.
He did, however, speak of the culture of secrecy at Apple, defending the way Jobs and his executive teams innovate in secret, despite the impact it has on its employees and individuals associated with the company:
“A lot of people have been hurt by it when they’ve been affected, but I’m totally behind it. I like to have new products developed without being influenced by outsiders. It’s been one of the greatest things for Apple’s success.”
Despite times when Apple was in financial and structural turmoil, Wozniak believes Jobs’ speed of thought and endless drive helped the company move forward, believing that he may have adopted the ethos of the hard working, never failing Hank Reardon in Ayn Rand’s book Atlas Shrugged.
“Steve was very fast thinking and wanted to do things, I wanted to build things. I think Atlas Shrugged was one of his guides in life”
Ultimately, Wozniak believes that Steve Jobs will be remembered as one of the best and most successful business leaders for years to come:
“He’s probably going to be remembered for the next 100 years as the best business leader of our time. He will watch the company for a while, hope it’s on such a good track.
For a company as large as Apple, corporate culture doesn’t change overnight. The quality of the people doesn’t change.”
(Source: www.thenextweb.com)
Some classic Steve quotes as only he can provide:
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” [Stanford commencement speech, June 2005]
“I want to put a ding in the universe.”
“We made the buttons on the screen look so good you’ll want to lick them.”
“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”
“I’m as proud of what we don’t do as I am of what we do.”
(Source: macstories.net)