Arthur Levinson Named Chairman of the Board and Bob Iger Joins Apple's Board

[Akshay Masand]

Apple recently issued a press release announcing that the former CEO of Genentech, Arthur D. Levinson, has been named as Chairman of the Board and will continue serving on the audit committee. Apple also announced that Disney’s CEO Bob Iger has joined the Board as well.

Levinson has ended up taking Job’s seat after Jobs passed away on October 5th, just one day after the company announced the iPhone 4S at a media event in Cupertino. He has served as co-lead director with Andrew Jung since 2005 and was previously was known for pushing Apple to allow third party apps into Apple’s platform along with guiding Jobs through Apple’s iPhone 4 antenna problems.Tim Cook mentioned the following about Levinson:

Art has made enormous contributions to Apple since he joined the board in 2000. He has been our longest serving co-lead director, and his insight and leadership are incredibly valuable to Apple, our employees and our shareholders.

What's a bit more interesting about Levinson is that he was forced to resign from Google’s Board of Directors in 2009 as he was serving on both Apple’s and Google’s board. When both of the companies started to move into the same space, causing rivalry, Levinson was forced to resign from one of the two boards, where he ended up leaving Google’s board in favor of being part of Apples’.



As for Bob Iger, he is currently the President and CEO of Disney. He is joining Apple’s board and will be serving on the audit committee. Both Iger and Jobs had a close relationship with one another while Jobs served as Chairman of Disney/Pixar’s Board. Tim Cook mentioned the following about Iger:

Bob and I have gotten to know one another very well over the past few years and on behalf of the entire board, we think he is going to make an extraordinary addition to our already very strong board. His strategic vision for Disney is based on three fundamentals: generating the best creative content possible, fostering innovation and utilizing the latest technology, and expanding into new markets around the world which makes him a great fit for Apple.

It seems that both Levinson and Iger will be great assets to Apple's board and with many changes in the pipeline for the Cupertino giant, hopefully the decisions made will be good ones. Levinson who has just been given a higher position on the board is probably already familiar with the way things work but Iger who is new, seems like he has quite a bit to offer as well. Futhermore, it seems as if Tim Cook is hard at work striving for the excellence that was founded by Jobs. The company seems to be undergoing a large amount of changes but seems to be headed in the right direction overall. Whether or not Cook will continue to drive Apple towards success is something only time will tell.

How do you feel about Levinson and Iger joining Apple’s board? Do you think Apple’s new CEO Tim Cook has been doing a good job thus far? Share any thoughts and opinions below!

Source: Apple

[mortopher]

Iger just oozes creep.

[bstunt10190]

This is true

[TheDirtyDiddler]

Steve Forbes Jr.