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Shareholders Push Hard For Apple Succession Plan
eldavojohn writes "Apple has been a couple weeks now sans their iconic fearless leader and the shareholders are getting restless without a succession plan. Essentially the Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) is saying that there hasn't been enough disclosure in why exactly Steve is absent and they'd like an annual succession plan delivered to shareholders. Apple is recommending that on February 23 at its annual company meeting, its shareholders vote against the proposal for a succession plan. Apple may have a plan for life after Steve Jobs but if they do they are not sharing it with anyone — not even their financiers!"
Next in line of succession will be Steve's own ego, which by the time he dies will have become a world-sized entity unto itself, making Skynet look like a Sinclar ZX81. And you *will* obey Steve's ego--or else!
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
Publicly saying you're concerned and don't have confidence in your company is a sure-fire way to drive your stock price through the roof.
http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
Isn't that a tad bit illegal?
Even in death, Steve Jobs will always be Apple's Eternal Leader. He can appoint his son as the Dear Leader.
There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
If Jobs dies, they'll just string him up and move him around "Weekend at Bernie's" like
I'm puzzled by the market cap of Apple being ~$0.3T ... when the company never issues dividends. What's the point of owning stock then? it's like owning shares of the moon: yeah, it's there, and you may be legal owner of a miniscule fraction thereof, but you don't get anything from it and those doing anything with it won't consult you.
Can we get a "-1 Wrong" moderation option?
A prominent company, Apple, told investors today that it was not in their best interests to know the company's plans for the time after Steve. Unsurprisingly, this is causing questions as to why knowing who is planned to be the next CEO is a bad thing, and hurting stock prices.
Apple's so-called "financiers" are also the benefactors of its remarkable success. If Jobs digs in his heels and decides to keep it secret, I predict they're not going to actually do anything. Or at least not until after Jobs might (unfortunately) pass away.
I'll do it.
Take his place that is.
Problem solved!
So, do I get payed via check or direct transfer or what?
Rumor mill says Eric Schmidt.
Um... the point of owning the stock is that you can choose to sell the stock, hopefully for more money. My motorscooter, my computers, and my collection of erotic Hummel figurines don't pay dividends either, but I own them, which means I can sell them.
http://alternatives.rzero.com/
No corporation is required to have a succession plan. Why should Apple?
You are going to say that Steve is so important to Apples success and continued success that a plan should be required.
I'm going to say that Steve is one man that relies on many people to come up with a successful product.
If there is no law that requires a succession plan, then Apple should not be made to make a plan.
Seriously, we all know that Steve Jobs eternally obsessive management is what has primarily led to Apple's success, and depriving its shareholders of adequate information regarding his health AND not giving them an appropriate succession plan is almost certainly pure arrogance.
vos nescitis quicquam, nec cogitatis quia expedit nobis ut unus moriatur homo pro populo et non tota gens pereat.
Slash has become the Fox News of tech.. Pandering to its most rabid fanbase.
On a day when Verizon's servers are melting because of the iPhone pre-orders, we get a report making fun of their fearless leader.
They don't need an executive to fill his position.
They need someone with a vision.
They need ME.
-AC
"saying that there hasn't been enough disclosure in why exactly Steve is absent"
Friggin' boards and share holders. I hate them. I am biased obviously. I am in the trenches, so they probably look at me with equal distain.
This is the generic problem, boards and shareholders poke their governance noses in, not trusting senior operational to make the best decisions. Steve Jobs, and I suspect those around him, would go to their graves doing the best for Apples long term goals.
Jobs himself will be well aware of consequences of his absence but I am guessing is managing the fact his return is best. I am not a Jobs fanboy, but shareholder boards fuck off and count pennies somewhere else.
In post Patriot Act America, the library books scan you.
If you care about freedom, love the internet and computers and aren't a big fan of Murdoch then I hope you can join with me in wishing Steve Job's a swift exit from this world, for the sake of us all (all except a few vacuous and ignorant mac fanboys of course.)
When they ousted Steve in 1985(?) they didn't have any problem finding a replacement. I doubt they'll have a problem finding a replacement when he eventually passes on.
Random Thought:
- the visionary men that made computers what they are today:
- Nolan Bushnell (gaming & multimedia computing)
- Jack Tramel (mass marketed the #1 and #2 best-selling computers - C=64 and A500)
- Steve Jobs (obvious)
- Bill Gates
- probably left some off but those are the ones on top.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
You speak with much sarcasm, but who's to say they aren't gaming the system a bit here?
Speak ill of the company, the stock price begins to slide, the company complies, and you rush in with a bunch of automated orders that you had queued up to scoop up the stock as the announcement is made.
I am not a stock broker, but this is a conspiracy that I might bite on.
"All great wisdom is contained in .signature files"
of the iChurch. Please let not our fearless leader fall! we cannots lives withouts the One!
Seriously though, this sort of attitude from shareholders is what you get from capitalism... "Jobs is unwell, oh noes! I am gonna be poor! quick lets get rid of him and put someone else in charge so i dont get the poors!" instead of "Jobs is unwell... sigh lets hope for the best"
Capitalism has failed get that thru your heads
Jobs' successor won't be
How did I end up on eldavojohn's blog?
Need to hire a new CEO? There's an app for that:
http://jobs.apple.com/index.ajs?Language=en&CountryId=3
When you have nothing left to burn you must set yourself on fire
it's that he has a plan. And a plan to implement that plan.
Apple is usually quit on these types of matters.
Persoanlly, I don't think he can be replaced, and think it will rot after he leaves. Very few peoplea re smart, and motivated, and understand what people want, AND listen to experts in specific fields and let them what they do best.
Apple has many talented people, but a frontman and driver? That's going to be hard to get.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Why would Apple want to publish a plan if they have one? The top executives who aren't in line to move up will become dissatisfied and will look for opportunities elsewhere. The executives who are tapped won't have a timetable to move up, and will be sniped at and sabotaged by the executives who aren't in line in the hopes of improving their positions. It's a recipe for internal dissent and distraction.
Apple is right and should resist this call to appoint a successor. If the shareholders don't like it they always have the option of selling their shares.
Cybrog.
The succession plan reads:
"Gil Amelio".
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
"No corporation is required to have a succession plan. Why should Apple?"
Because their shareholders want one, and the shareholders pay the bills.
Whenever a company gets complaints about a move that is controversial or unpopular, management's answer is always the same: "We have an obligation to our shareholders to ________ (whatever)".
So now, the shareholders, those people whom management cares about so deeply, are saying "We want to know what the succession plan is" and management's answer is "F.U. it's none of your business".
Seriously, who's up for a job at Apple that pays only one dollar per year? That is Steve's official salary boys and girls, and it's going to be very difficult to find someone talented and innovative who will accept such an offer at such low pay.
All that said, I vote for Woz -- get the other founder to take over and that's a story Wall Street would love... for about 5 seconds.
I only hope the board has some brains and finds someone willing to run the company as Steve would, and NOT some MBA idiot who's only goal is to maintain profitability by cutting, while building his golden parachute. In other words, NOT Carly.
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
I was going to say that Steve Jobs had better start cloning himself to take over, but then I remembered what happened the last time there was an Apple clone -- they were sued out of existence and then Apple took the clone and called it "Apple IIe" So I'm guessing a Steve Jobs clone wouldn't last long either.
I'm going to say that Steve is one man that relies on many people to come up with a successful product.
I don't follow Apple very closely, but my impression is that Jobs is the only public person in the company that matters. He's the chief salesman. The guy with the hype.The person that is interesting enough to the broad spectrum of media so that they engage in massive brouhaha over even minor stories -- like this one. When he's gone, unless he is replaced by someone who can command similar attention, Apple will lose out.
I'd also venture a guess that only Jobs' charisma and leadership is what makes possible to put and hold the team at Apple's that outputs successful products together, manages investor impatience, etc. etc.
When he's gone, it is anybody's guess what will happen internally. Leadership change is a huge challenge for a corporation. Investors that don't worry about that aren't smart investors.
By now everyone should know Steve Jobs is eternal and will just ascend to a new plane of being. The creative headhoncho's will simply make a statue that links into the App store that allows communication with His High Jobs.
Simple.
There is always an App for that!
That's a ridiculous thing. Those are all covered under BCP plans if anything and no one is going to make that public. Ask Goldman Sachs if they have a public succession plan, or Microsoft, or GE.
It's just shareholders wanting something they don't need. ( and I'm a shareholder )
I'm sure Apple has had a detailed plan for a very long time. Now why in the hell should they be forced to let their competitors know that plan?
Then we'll get "Permanent Vacation at Bernie's".
Down With Slashdot BETA!!! I've been around the corner and seen the oliphant; you can only abuse me from your perspecti
I get tired of saying it but Steve Jobs is the new Gordon Brown.
The huge expectation built up that Apple might sell OS X for the generic PC has been blown as badly as Gordon Brown bungled the phoney election. That and the control freak clinging on has created a huge wave of negative publicity. That hate doesn't disappear very easily.
Instead of cutting in to Microsoft's market share Apple are leaving it too late as Microsoft recovers from the toxicity Vista. Unless Steve Jobs goes and goes now the blundering fool Steve Ballmer could be the one who knocks Apple out of contention for a generation. When he makes Apple look bad you just know Apple isn't doing something right.
Problem is Steve won't listen. He's just too cock sure he's the genius who saved Apple and is seriously autistic when it comes to giving people what they want. It's only going to take one mistake like Gordon Brown's abolishing the 10p tax band disaster and Ballmer will clean his clock. If that happens Apple will go down with him.
That's like my kids demanding that I tell them what we're eating for dinner next July.
No, its not.
First, because the relationship between a corporation's shareholders and the corporation's management team is not analogous to a child's relationship to a parent; its more like the relation between the proprietor of a small business to the employees of that business. Second, because what they are asking for isn't analogous to knowing an unimportant detail about the distant future, its about knowing the plan to mitigate a signficant risk that appears to have a substantial possibility of being realized in the near future.
Maybe they should bring him back? Unfortunately, like was mentioned before Steve Jobs is Apple's leader. What I think is important is for them not to get sidetracked on a search for a new face but instead keep their products innovative and in the spotlight.
I know the reason they don't want to reveal their succession plan.
You know that big mysterious data center they are building? Full of computers, big powerful computers?
Steve Jobs has realistically been dying for years now. Clearly apples succession plan is to take Steve Jobs and freeze him, slice his brain into wafer thin sections and scan them.. then simulate him in a giant hardened data center in the middle of no-where. That way he can rule Apple forever as it's cybernetic overlord!
Personally, I would be ok with this. :P
Most all responsible corporations, publicly held or otherwise, have succession plans. But sharing them with the world at large beyond the: "if so-and-so leaves, we'll re-structure management and hire into such-and-such new positions" would be crazy. I mean, what would it say? If Steve were to die tomorrow we have an agreement that Balmer takes over? Seriously the plan can't publicly name names so that makes it pretty useless to publish. So I say, any corporation that wants to see Apple's succession plan should be required to simultaneously publish its plans.
Barring that, I call upon all responsible corporate citizens to hand over copies of their succession plans to Julian Assange who will publish them for you.
PaulW, IT Consultant
I am white, lanky, and I like wearing blue jeans and tennis shoes. I'm less nervous speaking to large crowds than small ones. I am an INTP which is close enough to ENTP. I don't own any mock turtlenecks but I imagine I could afford a few by exercising AAPL stock options. I've been using Apple products off and on since 1988, and bought a Titanium PowerBook G4 when it was frowned upon to own an Apple. So when do I start?
Slashdot's first reaction to VMware
Because shareholders own the company. If the company's owners want a succession plan then Apple had better well get cracking.
All they have to do is wait 9 months - the plan is already in motion.
Oh, wait, no, Jobs is actually coming back in six months. Because Apple has a history of being forthright about his health.
Really, though, they're doing the best they can. When the Company hasn't fallen apart by November, people will accept that Cook can run Apple. _Any_ announced plan will just be shot down by a thousand armchair CEO's. They are protecting shareholder value, whether the shareholders accept that or not.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
Not only does Apple clearly have a succession plan, they just executed it. They could not be more clear about who is running Apple right now.
As a shareholder myself, I'm satisfied that Tim can get great performance for at least the next 2 years. Beyond that I'll have to see what new product development (Jobs' true genius) looks like.
Build a man a fire, he's warm for one night. Set him on fire, and he's warm for the rest of his life.
I skimmed that first line and thought this was about changing typefaces.
Not close enough. I think his E is very specific to his success. More wordy: extroverts get their sense of self from others. Introverts get it from themselves. It's not really about shyness, although that does play a part in the dynamic (if you don't care so much how other people value you, then you're less inclined to interact with them). I realize your post was a joke, because the Apple board is not trolling Slashdot looking for job offers for their next CEO, but I still wanted to educate (others).
I feel fantastic, and I'm still alive.
It was proposed by Laborers' International Union of North America which renamed itself as Institutional Shareholder Services.
Title is misleading. The article is a spin.
Right, but where are they going to find another white lanky guy who uses Apple products, likes to wear blue jeans and tennis shoes, and is an ENTP? :^)
Slashdot's first reaction to VMware
They just don't want to admit that it's "Liquidate my stock options and jump ship before the public finds out"
When Steve Jobs leaves, Apple stock will tank, at least in the short term. Apple knows it, and based on this request so do their shareholders. Apple can't admit that though.
The new Apple under Jobs has been built on a PR platform of "loose lips sink ships." Back in the day, every product manager thought he was running Apple and was talking out of the corner of his mouth to any trade reporter he could find to spin his own career-advancing schemes. By the time Apple announced new products, the world was bored.
Of course they have a succession plan, and that includes secrecy until the "launch."
News: Apple announces that secret succession plan has been completed. In other News: Apple has just filed over three hundred patents concerning human cloning.
Bring back John Sculley.
"Fearless leader"??? Maybe they need Rockey and Bullwinkle at the helm!
A lot of people on here mistakenly seem to think shareholders own the company. You are wrong. Any people with with $343.44 + commission has the same "ownership" of Apple I do or any other share holder does, (none.) In most companies a holder of a substantial amount of stock has some pull simply because they can threaten to sell their 15-20% which would drive the stock price down significantly. I don't really see Apple caring about this. It is possible to take over a company buy a large amount of stock so that you can get a majority rule at the stock holder's meeting and then replace the board, a hostile take over, but again, I do not see Apple caring about this. So, whatever Apple decides to do about this "push hard for succession plan" it will simply be a goodwill gesture.
Why would Apple want to publish a plan if they have one?
Easy enough to find out:
They have a new computer in the 9,000 series that will take care of CEO. Hello HAL.
What motivation would any executives at Apple have to work hard if the next CEO is pre-announced? Steve Jobs could stay on for a year, or five years or ten years. That's a lot of water under the bridge. Should no new talent have a chance to emerge as a leader in all that time? Do we want Apple to make monthly public changes of heart like a rich grandma with a will?
A charismatic leader may create an organisation.
But an organisation is much less likely to create a charismatic leader.
It will shape them into a "team player", it will squash them, or it will eject them as a troublemaker.
I am anarch of all I survey.