Steve Jobs resigns as Apple CEO… Tim Cook promoted to CEO

It goes without saying the amount of energy that goes into overseeing one of the biggest (by market cap) and most watched companies in the world.  Furthermore, Steve Jobs health problems are well known so one can only imagine the toll it has taken running Apple even from behind the scenes while on this latest medical leave.  Many watchers and investors (myself included) pretty much expected that Jobs would not return as CEO.  His last letter when taking his most recent medical leave telegraphed that tone when he said “he hoped to be back”. The past few months seemed to have been a trial to see how he felt running the company in absentia but obviously, with Apple’s global presence, makes it difficult to run the company this way with the level of dedication required to cement deals.

So finding an appropriate time to step down became more of a formality; thus this was not surprising and neither was the CEO succession plan of promoting then COO Tim Cook to be the next CEO. Cook has proven himself capable of running the company twice.  Apple has long since been a two headed monster with the operations side taking a back seat to Jobs marketing mastery.  However, Apple as a company has been molded over the past 15 years to have a deep management bench.  While Jobs has been the companies very public face, there are a lot of smart people doing important work behind the scenes.  Now will be their chance to shine.  Jobs will continue as chairman of the board of directors as well as an Apple employee so it isn’t like he is disappearing completely.  It will just be in a less time consuming capacity (and in many respects, a well deserved respite from being in the very public eye).  To be honest, I felt he should have stepped down at the time he announced this most recent medical leave as a matter of personal priority not only for himself but also his family so that he could spend more quality time with them.

It is an understatement to say how much Jobs has meant to the company as well as the tech world.  Yes, he had that very well documented abrasive side which created very polarizing opinions of him, but one cannot deny that his sheer will shaped the tech world many of us live in today.  Even if you disagree with his style or vision, he deserves kudos and recognition for his contributions (and those really don’t need to repeating; one just has to look at the tech landscape today to see the impact). What will be greatly missed is how Jobs could see certain details in the design of the product and his unwavering input to get those attention to details correct.

My biggest concern is who will be replacing Tim Cook as COO.  For Apple, that is one of the most important positions and Cook managed the companies supply chain with an incredibly iron fist.  Jeff Williams is likely to assume that role (he has been working under Cook) so this should be business as usual.  As far as whether Cook can fill Jobs’ marketing shoes, he really doesn’t have to. No one can fill those shoes anyway plus furthermore, everyone should really leave their own mark.  It should be noted that Cook does have a sharp wit and will actually do fine as Apple’s new (and probably more saner) public face.  I think the public will be surprised when he can also pull out one liners that will make people laugh.  And unlike Jobs, many will find him far more approachable.

As a long term Apple shareholder, I have strong confidence the company will continue to execute on their strategic vision and plans. One of the distractions weighing on the company was the issue of CEO succession;  that has been answered and gotten out of the way.  From a wall street perspective, that would be one wall of worry out of the way (so now, they will find something else to harp on).