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Adobe's Todd Teresi to lead Apple's iAd unit, fully purge himself of Flash reliance
It had to happen at some point, right? Adobe and Apple -- two names in a similar field -- would inevitably end up hiring someone that worked at the other firm in a past life, and unsurprisingly, the world is up in arms about an acquisition that would go unreported if not for the past drama between the two outfits. As the story goes, Todd Teresi (formerly of Adobe) has been hired to be the new chief of Apple's iAd mobile advertising division, but since the hire hasn't been officially confirmed, it's all based on "sources familiar with the matter." Interestingly, Bloomberg BusinessWeek asserts that the iAd team has been "cutting prices to keep customers from jumping ship to rivals, including Google," noting that the dominance seen in the tablet market isn't exactly translating on the advertising side. Something tells us Apple's got a few bills to lose while experimenting, though.
Apple senior executives get lucrative stock grant
According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Apple's senior executive team received lucrative stock grants worth US$60 million dollars at current market prices. A Securities and Exchange commission document filed by Apple on Friday details this financial reward. Each executive will receive restricted stock shares that are meant to entice the executives to stay with Apple for the next five years. The grant requires that the executive remain at Apple to claim half of the stocks which will vest in 2013. The second half will vest in 2016. Executives receiving the 150,000 shares include CFO Peter Oppenheimer, general counsel Bruce Sewell, iOS Software VP Scott Forstall, Worldwide Product Marketing VP Phil Schiller, Hardware Engineering VP Bob Mansfied and Operations VP Jeffrey Williams. Senior VP of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue received 100,000 restricted shares.
Apple retail chief Ron Johnson officially departs
Ron Johnson, Apple's Senior Vice President of Retail Operations for the last 11 years, has officially left Apple today. Back in June, Apple said that Johnson would be leaving the company on November 1st to become the CEO of J.C. Penney. Johnson joined Apple in 2000 and is largely credited with helping Apple gain a distinct retail presence. Among his contributions to Apple retail stores was the Genius Bar, which is now found in every Apple store and something Steve Jobs was initially against. Interestingly, Apple hasn't yet found a replacement for Johnson. In August the Cupertino company hired the recruiting firm Egon Zehnder International with Steve Jobs's order to find an international replacement for Johnson. As I wrote then: Apple has repeatedly said that their international expansion is a driving force in both their profits and sales. Given that China, a country which Apple had virtually no presence in until very recently, seems key to Apple's growth, its likely that Ron Johnson's replacement could very well come from the Asia Pacific territory or someone with extensive knowledge and experience in the territory. Ron Johnson's name, picture, and bio have already been removed from Executive Profiles page.
IBM announces Virginia Rometty as new CEO
IBM's board of directors have announced that Virginia M. Rometty will be taking over as CEO of the company in 2012, succeeding current chief Samuel Palmisano. Palmisano will stay on as chairman of the board, but at the end of the year will hand over the reins to Rometty who will become one of a few, but growing number of female chief executives (alongside Meg Whitman) in the tech industry. During her roughly decade long tenure with the company she has spearheaded the push into the services industry and in 2009 became senior vice president of sales, marketing and strategy, leading the charge into markets like China and India. The 54-year-old Rometty will look to continue Palmisano's success, which has seen IBM become the second most valuable tech company in the world, just ahead of Microsoft and right behind Apple. Check out the full PR after the break.
HP's chief strategy officer to retire next month, won't have a successor
Remember Shane Robison, the HP exec who advocated for the survival of webOS following the company's decision to dismantle its hardware unit? Yeah well, he's about to make an exit. HP confirmed yesterday that Robison will retire from his position as executive VP and chief strategy and technology officer on November 1st, after spending eleven years at the company. In a statement, HP praised Robison for spearheading much of its R&D and several high-profile mergers during his tenure there. "In his role, he was responsible for shaping HP's corporate strategy and technology agenda," the company said. "He was instrumental in steering the company's multibillion-dollar research and development investment and has led many of the company's largest merger and acquisition activities." Newly minted CEO Meg Whitman, meanwhile, described Robison as a powerful innovator and lauded his role in guaranteeing "that innovation continues at HP." Perhaps the bigger story, however, is the fact that the firm doesn't plan on filling Robison's shoes. In the announcement, HP confirmed that his position will be dissolved as part of "an effort to drive strategy, research and development closer to the company's businesses." The implications, of course, remain to be seen. Full PR after the break.
Robert Galvin, former chairman and CEO of Motorola, dies at age 89
We're very sorry to report that Robert W. Galvin, former chairman and CEO of Motorola, died this week in Chicago at the age of 89. Over the course of his nearly three-decade tenure at the helm, Galvin oversaw Motorola's transformation from a mid-level radio and walkie talkie manufacturer into one of the world's leading electronics makers. In the process, he cemented his legacy as one of the industry's most forward-looking executives. The Marshfield, Wisconsin native first joined the company as a stockroom apprentice in 1940, and would go on to spend his entire career there (save for a tour of duty in World War II). He was named chairman and chief executive in 1959, following the death of his father and company founder Paul Galvin. Under the younger Galvin's stewardship, Motorola expanded the depth and breadth of its operations, moving into emerging markets and focusing much of its efforts on the burgeoning cellular industry. Galvin spearheaded this transition, which saw Motorola introduce the first commercial cellphone in 1973, and the first cellphone network in the early 1980s. When he first took control, Motorola's annual sales stood at around $290 million. By the time he retired as chairman in 1990, however, that figure had ballooned to $10.8 billion. Galvin went on to serve on the company's board of directors until 2001 and, though he may have departed, his impact certainly won't be forgotten anytime soon. "We will continue to honor Bob Galvin's legacy here at Motorola Mobility," said current chairman and CEO Sanjay Jha. "He was committed to innovation, and was responsible for guiding Motorola through the creation of the global cellular telephone industry." Robert "Bob" Galvin is survived by his wife of 67 years, four children, 13 grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren.
Businessweek profiles Scott Forstall
Apple's iPhone 4S press event showcased the talents and personalities of Apple's executive leadership including CEO Tim Cook and Phil Schiller. One standout was vice-president Scott Forstall who, in the absence of Steve Jobs, is expected to take a bigger role at Apple. In a lengthy article, Business Week takes a closer look at this up and coming executive. Forstall's in charge of Apple's mobile software division and oversees the development of iOS. At the tender age of 42, he is Apple's youngest senior executive. He's also the most like Steve Jobs and the executive most likely to preserve Jobs's vision. If you want to learn more about Forstall and his role at Apple, then you should take some time to read Business Week's six page profile.
Former ARRI exec pleads guilty to hacking into rival CEO's e-mail account, faces jail time
There's some Oscar-worthy drama brewing in California, where ARRI executive Michael Bravin has pleaded guilty to hacking into a high-level e-mail account at rival camera maker Band Pro Film and Digital. In a plea agreement filed yesterday with a US District Court, Bravin admitted to intentionally accessing a corporate e-mail account belonging to Amnon Band -- Band Pro's President and CEO. More details after the break, including a potential connection to RED's Jim Jannard.
Apple's new CEO Tim Cook addresses employees in staff letter
With less than 24 hours under his belt as the new CEO of Apple, Tim Cook has sent a letter to the company's staff this morning, thanking his predecessor, and predicting bright things for Apple's future. The note reads, in part, I am confident our best years lie ahead of us and that together we will continue to make Apple the magical place that it is. Read the full text of the letter after the break.
Steve Jobs' Apple: a timeline
Let there be no question: ours would be a very different industry, were it not for Steve Jobs. Few, if any individuals have had so profound an effect on their given spaces; a unprecedented track record that began in 1976 with the co-founding of Apple. In earliest incarnation, the company would prove the driving force of the personal computer explosion of the early '80s, beginning with the Apple II -- one of the industry's first hugely popular microcomputers. The Macintosh shook things up yet again, a launch celebrated by the debut of the "1984" ad during that year's Superbowl. That line helped break both the graphical user interface and the mouse to a massive audience. Soon after, Jobs would resign, going on to form NeXT. The company never managed sales figures anywhere near the previous endeavor, but its products would prove highly influential, forming, among other things, the basis of Apple's paradigm-shifting OS X operating system. While Steve Jobs was focused on NeXT and The Graphic Group -- the company that would later morph into the far more familiar Pixar -- Apple suffered a series of defeats. %Gallery-131626%
Iwata taking 50% pay cut over 3DS performance
Nintendo is dropping the price of the 3DS next month. In addition, the company has announced plans to institute a price cut on president Satoru Iwata. At a conference in Tokyo, Iwata told investors that he was taking responsibility for the 3DS's slow sales, along with a 50 percent reduction in pay as a result. Iwata's last annual compensation was ¥137 million, or $1.8 million (including salary and performance-based "variable compensation"). He didn't announce specifics of the cut, but we can expect both the base salary and the bonus to be lower, since lower performance is the whole reason for this exercise. Other "representative directors," including Senior Managing Directors Shigeru Miyamoto and Shinji Hatano, will take 30 percent pay cuts, and other execs will lose 20 percent off their salaries. Analyst David Gibson tweeted from the conference that Nintendo cited a missed opportunity to cut the GameCube's price as motivation to jump on the 3DS price cut.
Sony exec says PSN hack was 'a great experience,' apparently means it
The following are what most humans would call "great experiences": eating gelato on a hot summer's day, riding a tandem bike with Anthony Hopkins, or, in the case of Sony executive Tim Schaaff, having your life's work nearly destroyed by a band of hackers. Because for Schaaff, president of Sony Network Entertainment, this spring's persistent PSN outage wasn't so much devastating as it was... enlightening. Here's how he described the hack (and ensuing epiphany) to VentureBeat's Dylan Tweney: "I think for people running network businesses, it's not just about improving your security, because I've never talked to a security expert who said, 'As long you do the following three things you'll be fine, because hackers won't get you... the question is how do you build your life so you're able to cope with those things. It's been a great experience." Phenomenal as it must've felt to get in touch with his inner defeatist, Schaaff admitted that he "would not like to do it again" -- probably because his mouth can only house one foot at a time.
Senior iCloud product manager John Herbold leaves Apple
John Herbold, a senior product manager for Apple's iCloud service, has updated his LinkedIn profile to show that he's no longer with the company in Cupertino. Herbold's LinkedIn now shows that he works for a company called HealthTeacher, and his work at Apple is in the past. He also says that working with Apple "was a great privilege. Now I get to take that experience and apply it to the enormous challenge of materially improving youth health." Herbold is only the latest in a growing line of big Apple executive exits, including Bertrand Serlet a little while ago, and Ron Johnson from the company's retail division. Still, for a company as big as Apple, all of these exits are likely just more indicative of usual turnover rather than a motivated mass exodus.
Retail chief Ron Johnson leaves Apple for J.C. Penney
Apple's Senior Vice President of Retail Operations, Ron Johnson, is leaving to become President and eventually CEO of J.C. Penney. Johnson will assume this role November 1, 2011 and will join J.C. Penney's board of directors on August 1. Johnson joined Apple in 2000 from Target where he worked as the VP of merchandising. Johnson guided Apple's retail division from its inception to its current standing as one of tech's most successful brick-and-mortar stores. He was responsible for the performance of over 300 Apple stores worldwide. His departure is not a reflection of bad times at Apple. According to J.C. Penney's press release, Johnson has always dreamed of being the CEO of a major retail company. In this role, he hopes to turn around the struggling retail giant and "transform the way America shops." It's a tall order, but if he is as successful with J.C. Penney as he was with Apple, he may able to achieve the comeback of the decade. Show full PR text J. C. Penney Company Names Ron Johnson as Its Next Chief Executive Officer, Effective November 1 MYRON E. (MIKE) ULLMAN, III TO BECOME EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD Johnson Has Led Apple Inc.'s Retail Since Its Inception Will Join J. C. Penney's Board of Directors on August 1 PLANO, Texas, June 14, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Myron E. (Mike) Ullman, III, chairman and chief executive officer of J. C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE: JCP), today announced that Ron Johnson, an innovative and highly regarded retail executive, has been named the Company's next chief executive officer, succeeding Mr. Ullman in that role. Mr. Johnson will assume the CEO position on Nov. 1, 2011, and report to Mr. Ullman, who will become executive chairman. Mr. Johnson will also join the Company's Board of Directors, effective Aug. 1, 2011. Mr. Johnson, 52, has served for the past 11 years as senior vice president of retail at Apple Inc., where he led its retail strategy, which from its start in 2001 now numbers over 300 stores in the U.S. and abroad. He joined Apple after 15 years at Target Corporation, where he was a key merchandising executive. Mr. Ullman said, "I am delighted that Ron is joining our Board and the Company, and look forward to working with him as we continue to transform the jcpenney brand. He is widely recognized and highly regarded in the retail industry for his creativity and innovation, his commitment to empowering employees to deliver an unparalleled customer experience, and to making stores exciting places where people love to shop. His tremendous accomplishments at Apple and Target speak to his great consumer merchandising, marketing and operational talent." Thomas J. Engibous, lead director of J. C. Penney Company's Board, said, "The Company has made outstanding strides under Mike Ullman's leadership and it has great potential ahead thanks to the Long Range Plan for growth he and the management team developed and are executing, which includes top management succession planning. The progress made under Mike's leadership is reflected in the Company's ability to attract an executive of Ron Johnson's talent and track record as it continues to focus on achieving its objective of becoming America's most exciting place to shop. We look forward to Ron joining our Board and then to his assuming the chief executive role as he, Mike and their team work towards achieving the Company's goals." Mr. Johnson said, "I've always dreamed of leading a major retail company as CEO, and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to help J. C. Penney re-imagine what I believe to be the single greatest opportunity in American retailing today, the Department Store. I have tremendous confidence in J. C. Penney's future and look forward to working with Mike Ullman, the Executive Board and the Company's 150,000 associates to transform the way America shops." As a demonstration of his confidence in J. C. Penney's long-term potential, Mr. Johnson requested and has committed to make a personal investment of $50 million in the Company through the purchase, at fair market value, of 7 1/2-year warrants on 7.257 million shares ofJ. C. Penney Company stock. The warrants cannot be sold or hedged for the first six years of their term and have a strike price of $29.92, the closing price of the stock on the business day prior to Mr. Johnson's commitment to purchase the warrants. About Ron Johnson Ron Johnson brings to J. C. Penney Company over 25 years of retail experience and a long and successful track record of delivering year-over-year growth for multi-billion dollar companies. Before joining Apple, Mr. Johnson held a variety of positions with Target Corporation, serving in his last role there as vice president of merchandising. In his 15-year merchandising career with Target he had responsibility for such categories as Men's Apparel, Women's Apparel and Accessories, Children's and Home. He is most noted for launching and leading the Design Initiative at Target, which began with the Michael Graves collection for home and included several other key brands such as Calphalon, Carr, Bodum and more. Mr. Johnson received his MBA from Harvard Business School and his Bachelor of Arts at Stanford in Economics.
Motorola clarifies position on Android apps, is still cool with developer community
Being an outspoken executive often involves a steady diet of crow. So, when Sanjay Jha seemingly threw Android developers under the proverbial bus with last week's comments, it seemed only a matter of time before the backtracking commenced. Motorola has fittingly issued a clarification on the CEO's statement, explaining that Jha didn't mean to suggest that apps were at fault for 70-percent of returns. Instead, they're a contributing factor, along with poor battery life and slow performance. The company also took a moment to point out its continued support of the Android developer community, just in case anyone on that side was planning on adding to the aforementioned return rate.
A look at Apple's "all-star" executives
Tim Cook, Phil Schiller, Jony Ive, and Steve Jobs are big names at Apple. These top executives are known around the technology industry and around the world for their operational excellence, marketing know-how, design genius and powerful reality distortion fields. While these four men often get credit for much of Apple's success, the company boasts an enviable collection of talented "chiefs" and senior vice presidents who help carve its skyward path. A new gallery from CNN Money takes a brief look at eleven of Apple's all-stars. For avid fans of Apple, some of the names mentioned in CNN Money's gallery may be familiar. But if you don't recognize names like Craig Federighi, Scott Forstall, Bob Mansfield, Ron Johnson, Peter Oppenheimer, Bruce Sewell, Jeff Williams, Eddy Cue, Katie Cotton, Dr. Guy "Bud" Tribble, or Greg Joswiak, this may be a good opportunity to brush up on the men and women who help shape one of the world's most successful companies.
Former InstantAction CEO Lou Castle goes to Zynga
Lou Castle once founded the legendary Westwood Studios, and had worked with EA for a while on games like Boom Blox before moving on to browser-based gaming service InstantAction. Now that that service has shut its doors, what's a developer with an extensive game design background and experience in social and browser gaming to do? Go to Zynga, of course. Castle has joined the company as a VP of Studios, and will presumably oversee the various development studios at the social giant. Castle says that InstantAction was on its way to turning itself around, and would have done so in "another six months or so," but that the cost of the operation was too much. Castle says InstantAction wanted to "bridge downloadable and browser-based games," and that "it's understandable that it took a lot of time and energy, but it's also understandable when someone is writing a lot of burn money every month and they don't want to do it anymore."
Survey finds customers confident in Apple without Steve Jobs
If Steve Jobs were to step down as the CEO of Apple, what effect -- if any -- would it have on the likelihood of buying Apple products in the future? Research firms RBC Capital Markets and ChangeWave asked Apple customers this question in a survey conducted between January 31 and February 9. Of the 3,091 respondents, 84% said Steve Jobs departing Apple would have no impact on their buying decisions, and only 7% said they would be less likely to purchase Apple products. The new results are a notable change from a similar survey completed in June 2008. In the 2008 survey, 18% of respondents expressed a lower interest in buying from Apple if Steve Jobs left the company. On January 17, Apple announced Jobs would take his third leave of absence for medical reasons, igniting new concerns among investors and fans about the future of Apple without Jobs at the helm. This past week, Apple shares tumbled about 7% after new worries about the CEO's health began to circulate. Analyst Mike Abramsky suggests this survey shows that Apple may be bigger than its CEO; that Apple isn't just about Jobs anymore. "Consumers have had 3 years to evolve their perception of the Apple brand around its creative new products, cutting edge innovation, iTunes/App Store ecosystem and premium quality positioning -- beyond the buying pull of Apple's iconic CEO," Abramsky said. When Steve Jobs took a medical leave of absence in 2009, customers watched Apple perform successfully with Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook running the company. The company's stock rose 144%, revenue grew by 20%, and Apple shipped 25 million iPhones. This success seems to have boosted customer confidence in Apple. Does Apple lose its bite without Steve Jobs at the helm and become just another technology company? Will you continue to buy Apple products if he leaves? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
id Software exec departs for GameStop's digital distribution branch
id Software digital distribution manager Steve Nix recently confirmed that he's leaving the developer to fill the very same position at the gaming retail juggernaut GameStop. His new employer released a statement accompanying the announcement, which says, "Steve will lead the strategic development and execution of GameStop's digital download business," where he'll work with the company's other business units "to optimize GameStop's digital download shopping experience." GameStop's got high hopes for the profitability of digital content -- and it sounds like a large portion of those hopes are balanced upon Nix's shoulders. We wish him luck, and cordially remind him to lift with his knees.
Steve Ballmer looking for a few good engineers for Microsoft management?
Bloomberg's heard a couple whispers that Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer is looking to fill senior product executive roles with engineers. In other words, people who can really understand the products they're planning, pushing, and promoting -- a smart move, if it comes to pass. An announcement could reportedly be made as early as this month alongside a Courier resurgence. (Okay, not really, but let us dream a bit.)
