A look at Apple's board

The Wall Street Journal has posted an inside view on Apple's board of directors in the wake of Jerome York's death, and the image they paint is one of a tiny group of people that's strongly loyal to Jobs himself. The group of six people is the smallest board at a Fortune 500 company, and they're all basically handpicked by Jobs, who cleaned house after his return to Apple in the late '90s. He kept only two members back then whom he could trust, and has since only brought on people who will follow his direction.

Not that board members aren't consulted -- York was apparently an expert at auditing and governance, and reigned in those areas. But when Jobs wanted his way, board members stayed quiet or got out -- York told the Wall Street Journal last year that he was "disgusted" by the way the company had handled the reports on Jobs' health and that he even wished he'd left the company over his disagreement. But such is Jobs' hold on the board that even York stayed quiet.

And that's not likely to change in the future. While Apple's rules require them to fill the vacancy that York left, word is that it's unlikely that they'll add too much new blood to the mix. The last time a seat was vacated, when Google's Eric Schmidt left the board, they simply decided they had enough directors and moved on. While COO Tim Cook is rumored to be the best option to fill the spot, the company likely won't make a move unless Jobs says so.

[via 9to5Mac]

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Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870426650457514…

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The Wall Street Journal has posted an inside view on Apple's board of directors in the wake of Jerome York's death, and the image they...

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lilcy

oh, lol, funny!
'Steve runs a tight ship and demands results from his staff. Steve's done a great job because he's given us the Mac, the iPod, the iPhone and now the iPad. Well done Steve! We need more like you.'
i agreed!
eher, Now there are so many people are waiting for ipad's release. there are so many ipad fans, Im one of them, here, Im glad to share some ipad freestuffz and resources, go to this spot: http://www.ifunia.com/ipad-column/index.html

March 30 2010 at 11:11 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Bob

I'm available

March 28 2010 at 9:17 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

AeronPrometheus

Picture for this article should be the fuzzy mug shots of The Patriots from Metal Gear Solid 2.

"Snake... Everyone on the Apple Board of Directors died over 100 years ago!"

"What the..."

March 27 2010 at 10:59 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Roberto

SJ obviously needs to clone himself to fill up those seats in the boardroom. Picture a couple of mini-me's.

March 27 2010 at 9:28 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

L. Williams

The author, Mike Schramm, makes it sound like Steve is somehow different from other CEOs: "He kept only two members back then whom he could trust, and has since only brought on people who will follow his direction."

What CEO would go out and purposely appoint people who would fight him? Naturally Steve would try to get people of similar mind as himself, but who also had unique strengths in their various fields to act as advisors.

I strongly object to the way various reporters vilify Steve Jobs, and ascribe strongly negative characteristics to the guy. Steve runs a tight ship and demands results from his staff. He gets results and has spearheaded many of the technical breakthroughs that affect and benefit every part of the lives of over half the planet. Steve's done a great job because he's given us the Mac, the iPod, the iPhone and now the iPad. Well done Steve! We need more like you.

March 26 2010 at 8:22 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Michael

So if these are Apple's rules that require re-filling the BoD position, why don't they just change their own rules? Or are these SEC's (or some other agency's) rules?

March 26 2010 at 7:18 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply