Apple Chairman

[Shaun.P]

Hi all,

I am currently reading the book Insanely Great which chronicles "The Life and Times of Macintosh".

The book briefly mentions about Sculley and how that when he was fired as CEO, he stepped down to become Apple's Chairman. I didn't know this and tried to research this a bit further. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find a list of Apple's previous Chairman at all - only a list of CEOs.

Does anyone know this information? I was curious as to how long Sculley remained Chairman after being fired as CEO.

I know often the CEO can also be chairman of the board, but not always.

Also curious as to whether Apple has a 'president' title?

Many thanks!

 

[Bart Kela]

Apple has no president: a list of their senior management can be found on the Apple website. My memory is a bit hazy, but the CEO title was used for the chief executive at Apple, not president. There might have been someone with the title at one point early in the company's history, but the CEO was always the leader.

As for John Sculley, he was fired by the Board of Directors which was chaired by Mike Markkula between 1985-1997. Sculley was never chairman. Steve was a chairman in the early Eighties; for the few months preceding his death after he relinquished the CEO title, he was elevated to the chairman role.

I'm pretty sure that for a long period of time, maybe 1997 up until 2011, there was no chairman of the board. There were co-lead directors, but no one with higher authority or the chairman title. Steve was of course a board director and was the de facto chairman even though he did not have the title.

After Steve's death, Arthur Levinson is now the non-executive chairman of the board. CEO Tim Cook of course is a board member.

 

[Jessica Lares]

Found this on the Chicago Tribune from October 1993:
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1993-10-15/news/9310160132_1_john-sculley-steven-jobs-resignation

John Sculley, the former soft-drink executive who led Apple Computer Inc. during its ascendancy, resigned Friday as chairman of the computer company that pioneered easy-to-use desktop machines.

The move was not unexpected. In June Sculley stepped aside as chief executive amid a personal-computer price war and internal tension over the company's direction.

So less than 5 months.

 

[Bart Kela]

No, it is likely that Sculley was board chairman for longer than five months. He was chairman for five months after he was relieved of his CEO title. He was both for longer than that. There is nothing in the article that indicates he was elevated to chairman after he was stripped of his CEO ranking.

Vice Chairman Markkula instigated outside directors to oust Sculley, ironic in that Markkula was the one who convinced Jobs to bring Sculley on board.

 

[Carnegie]

Hi all,

I am currently reading the book Insanely Great which chronicles "The Life and Times of Macintosh".

The book briefly mentions about Sculley and how that when he was fired as CEO, he stepped down to become Apple's Chairman. I didn't know this and tried to research this a bit further. Unfortunately, I can't seem to find a list of Apple's previous Chairman at all - only a list of CEOs.

Does anyone know this information? I was curious as to how long Sculley remained Chairman after being fired as CEO.

I know often the CEO can also be chairman of the board, but not always.

Also curious as to whether Apple has a 'president' title?

Many thanks!

Mr. Sculley stopped being the CEO of Apple in June 1993. Michael Spindler, who had been President and COO, became President and CEO. Mr. Sculley remained Chairman until October of 1993 when he resigned as an employee of Apple. He was a paid consultant for Apple for some time thereafter.

Mike Markkula became Chairman when Mr. Sculley left. Mr. Markkula had been on Apple's board from the beginning and had been its first Chairman (from 1977 to 1981) and second CEO (from 1981 to 1983). Mr. Spindler, the new CEO, never became Chairman. However, when Gil Amelio became CEO in 1996 he became Chairman as well, replacing Mr. Markkula.

Apple no longer has a President, but it used to. Mr. Spindler may have been the last person to hold that title, but I'd have to do some checking to be sure.