Bob Iger joins Apple board, Arthur Levinson becomes chairman
updated 05:10 pm EST, Tue November 15, 2011
Company fills in gap left by Steve Jobs
Arthur Levinson (pictured) has been named as the new chairman of the Apple board of directors, the company has announced. Levinson has been on the board since 2000, and also chairs at several other institutions, including Genentech, the Broad Institute, Amyris Biotechnologies, and NGM Biopharmaceuticals. In chairing Apple he will be replacing Steve Jobs, who died on October 5th. Levinson will continue to remain on the Apple board's audit committee.
New to the board is Robert Iger, the president and CEO of Disney. "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," reads a prepared statement by Apple CEO Tim Cook. "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."
Like Levinson, Iger will be a member of the audit committee. His appointment should maintain strong corporate links between Apple and Disney; as the one-time head of Pixar, Jobs became Disney's most powerful individual investor, and sat on the latter's board. Apple has often given preferential treatment to Disney content, for example featuring Disney movies in marketing iPods and iPads.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Aug 2005
"Chariman"
What's a "chariman"? (title: "…Arthur Levinson becomes chariman")
In all seriousness: It's nice to see someone from Disney on the board; there's a lot of cross-pollenation possible between Steve's prior companies, which it would be good to see promoted more.