Avon chief elected to Apple's board of directors

[AppleInsider]

Apple said Monday that Andrea Jung, chairman and chief executive officer of woman's beauty firm Avon Products, has joined the company's board, bringing its total number of directors to eight.

Jung also serves on the board of directors of the General Electric Company and is a member of the New York Presbyterian Hospital board of trustees and the Catalyst board of directors.

"Andrea is a strong CEO and marketer and we look forward to benefiting from her insights and experience as a member of Apple’s board," said Apple chief executive Steve Jobs. "Andrea will be our eighth board member, and I think she will add a new dimension to our already lively board discussions."

At Avon, Jung is responsible for developing and executing all of the company’s long-term growth strategies, launching new brand initiatives, developing earnings opportunities for women worldwide, and defining Avon as the premier direct seller of beauty products.

She was elected president of global marketing in 1996, an executive vice president in 1997, president and a director of the company in 1998, chief operating officer from 1998 to 1999, chief executive officer in 1999 and chairman of the board in 2001. Previously, Jung was executive vice president of Neiman Marcus and a senior vice president for I. Magnin.

"Apple is clearly one of the most innovative companies in the world today," Jung said. "I feel privileged to join this exciting and dynamic team and look forward to working closely with Steve and the board during the next phase of Apple’s growth."

Jung is a magna cum laude graduate of Princeton University, is fluent in Mandarin and was the first woman elected chair of the Cosmetic, Toiletry, and Fragrance Association in March 2001, a role she held until early 2005.

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[Bageljoey]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

Jung also serves on the board of directors of the General Electric Company

GE owns 80% of NBC Universal.

Do I smell a plan?

[carlito2]

i was about to say that .........

Steves pulling something here !!!!!

(dam slow log in cost me my first first anti whoot)

[teckstud]

Originally Posted by Bageljoey

GE owns 80% of NBC Universal.

Do I smell a plan?

It could be more like pink iPods sold out of the Avon catalogue.

[solipsism]

Originally Posted by Bageljoey

GE owns 80% of NBC Universal.

Do I smell a plan?

You may have something here.

[a_greer]

Originally Posted by Bageljoey

GE owns 80% of NBC Universal.

Do I smell a plan?

Next AI story: Apple replaces cash wraps with makeup counters!

[anantksundaram]

She is a very talented manager. And, rightly or wrongly, Apple has been criticized in the media and by organizations such as Catalyst Inc. for not having a woman on its board. (Although, on the topic of latter, Carol Bartz may have not been a bad choice).

[mdriftmeyer]

Jung has been on Apple's board for several years. No conspiracy.

[ascii]

8 is too many. I read somewhere there is an optimal sized group for design/strategy type activities are it was less.

[anantksundaram]

Originally Posted by mdriftmeyer

Jung has been on Apple's board for several years. No conspiracy.

Huh? Are you sure? Perhaps you can point to a link with that info....?

[anantksundaram]

Originally Posted by ascii

8 is too many. I read somewhere there is an optimal sized group for design/strategy type activities are it was less.

8 is not too many -- actually, it is a tad on the low side for a company the size of Apple ($150+ billion in mkt cap).

The average board size in a Fortune 1000 company in the US is 11 (typically 2 insiders and 9 outsiders).

[wizard69]

You guys can argue all you want about board sizes and such, like you are in a position to make a difference, I will sit back and simply enjoy the fact that our new Apple hardware will smell that much better.


On a more serious side I'd like to see Apple place a younger person on the board. Someone hip to modern trends and usages.

Dave

[ros3ntan]

Originally Posted by wizard69

You guys can argue all you want about board sizes and such, like you are in a position to make a difference, I will sit back and simply enjoy the fact that our new Apple hardware will smell that much better.


On a more serious side I'd like to see Apple place a younger person on the board. Someone hip to modern trends and usages.

Dave

No offense to young people, they tend to take a lot of uncalculated risk. It would not be a good idea for attracting investors, especially right now when Apple's stock price is down.

[ros3ntan]

Originally Posted by anantksundaram

She is a very talented manager. And, rightly or wrongly, Apple has been criticized in the media and by organizations such as Catalyst Inc. for not having a woman on its board. (Although, on the topic of latter, Carol Bartz may have not been a bad choice).

she is very talented and a very good marketer. (http://goldsea.com/WW/Jungandrea/jungandrea.html) this is a 1999 interview with Andrea Jung. She talks about her career from birth in Canada to going to Princeton and arriving at Avon.

Steve might be planning to back door on NBC..

[halhiker]

And didn't she write "Fear of Flying", too?

[Dave K.]

Originally Posted by ros3ntan

Steve might be planning to back door on NBC..

Or have the Mac faithful sell Apple products to our friends and family through a small catalog and software demos.

[quinney]

Originally Posted by Bageljoey

GE owns 80% of NBC Universal.

Do I smell a plan?

AppleTV smellovision

[fuyutsuki]

According to Wikipedia she's also fluent in Mandarin Chinese … just when Apple are making their first steps in China as a market instead of just a place of manufacture.

As for the studios: even if Apple were the market cap of them all combined (Apple are already bigger than every single one of them) I doubt any purchases or inside coups would be on the cards. Simply put: Apple are the end of the record industry, as well as its last saviour! Movies … we'll see in due course.

[anantksundaram]

Originally Posted by halhiker

And didn't she write "Fear of Flying", too?

Andrea Jung.... Erica Jong..... whatever........

[Johnny Mozzarella]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

Apple said Monday that Andrea Jung, chairman and chief executive officer of woman's beauty firm Avon Products, has joined the company's board, bringing its total number of directors to eight.

Originally Posted by mdriftmeyer

Jung has been on Apple's board for several years. No conspiracy.

Did you even read the article?

Originally Posted by ascii

8 is too many. I read somewhere there is an optimal sized group for design/strategy type activities are it was less.

4-5 people is the optimal number for a work group however, the Board of Directors isn't really a working group. They don't really do anything other than have meetings, talk and vote.

Originally Posted by Dave K.

Or have the Mac faithful sell Apple products to our friends and family through a small catalog and software demos.

That sounds like a strategy for DELL.

[Johnny Mozzarella]

Originally Posted by fuyutsuki

According to Wikipedia she's also fluent in Mandarin Chinese … just when Apple are making their first steps in China as a market instead of just a place of manufacture.

Apple really needs to focus more on emerging markets and develop some lower cost computers that would be affordable there. BRIC: Brazil, Russia, India, China will contain39% of the worlds population by 2050.

Originally Posted by fuyutsuki

As for the studios: even if Apple were the market cap of them all combined (Apple are already bigger than every single one of them) I doubt any purchases or inside coups would be on the cards. Simply put: Apple are the end of the record industry, as well as its last saviour! Movies … we'll see in due course.

I don't think anyone was implying that Apple was going to buy NBC Universal, but rather use Jung to influence the board to be more favorable of digital distribution.

[Vox Barbara]

Originally Posted by teckstud

It could be more like pink iPods sold out of the Avon catalogue.

Nah, that stinks.

[anantksundaram]

Originally Posted by Johnny Mozzarella;1193139 [B

BRIC: Brazil, Russia, India, China[/B] will contain39% of the worlds population by 2050.

Actually the BRIC countries currently already account for about 41% of the world's population.

They are forecasted to account for 40% of the world's income by 2050. This is from a widely-quoted Goldman Sachs study done a few years ago (that, if I am not mistaken, also coined the term 'BRIC'):

http://www2.goldmansachs.com/insight...s/report6.html

[GQB]

Originally Posted by Bageljoey

GE owns 80% of NBC Universal.

Do I smell a plan?

If you want to have fun, go to
http://www.theyrule.net/2004/tr2.php

and start looking at the very cozy "6-degrees of separation" amongst major boards.

[halhiker]

Originally Posted by anantksundaram

Andrea Jung.... Erica Jong..... whatever........

I wonder if she's related to Carl?

[Bergermeister]

Originally Posted by ros3ntan

No offense to young people, they tend to take a lot of uncalculated risk. It would not be a good idea for attracting investors, especially right now when Apple's stock price is down.

Let me check: how old was Steve Jobs when he started Apple? What about Gates and MS? Jerry Yang and Yahoo? Lots of young blood is running amuck; better hold off investing.

Apple stock also right now is not exactly "down":
http://chart.finance.yahoo.com/c/5y/a/aapl