United Continental exec hired by Apple
Former United Continental Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Zane Rowe will be joining the ranks at Apple, and will reportedly be one of the Cupertino, Calif., company's vice presidents of sales.
Rowe is leaving his position as executive vice president and CFO of United Continental Holdings Inc., the company which owns major U.S. airlines United and Continental, at which he served since the two carriers merged in 2010 for a job at Cupertino, reports All Things D.
“We are thrilled that Zane Rowe will be joining us as one of our vice presidents of sales,” Apple spokesman Steve Dowling said. “He built a great team at United and we think he is going to do a fantastic job at Apple.”
Previous to his tenure at United Continental, Rowe first joined Continental in 1993 as a vice president of financial planning and analysis, ultimately becaming the company's executive vice president and CFO in 2008.
It is unclear as to what segment Rowe will be heading or when his term will begin.
New Apple Vice President of Sales Zane Rowe. | Source: All Things D
[ View article on AppleInsider ]
Comments
Steve Jobs never wanted B players on his A team. I guess the current suits see things differently.
How do you know that he's a "B" player? Executive VP and CFO at United, while a little odd for a sales VP position at Apple, is a pretty impressive credential. He may be put into strictly the financial and planning aspects of sales and inventory management and stuff like that. I'm sure Apple didn't just pluck him out of the blue.
Although, if he did, maybe he does qualify as an a-list-er!
Apple does have a huge patch to manage now, but I wouldn't like to see them get too far ,or at least too often, away from the tech field, into the typical corporate "revolving musical executives" approach. I would think that that would be the most effective way quickly to dilute and destroy the unique culture of Apple.
I'm sure Apple didn't just pluck him out of the blue.
No, it was the wild blue yonder
CFO, financial planning and analysis, airlines...... to sales, Apple?!
Let's wait to see what his responsibilities are.
For example, if he were targeted at C-level execs at Enterprise customers, his CFO, planning, and analysis experience might be right on the money.
CFO, financial planning and analysis, airlines...... to sales, Apple?!
Never mind, post self deleted...
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No, it was the wild blue yonder
Seriously, the guy must be a major numbers wiz. You see those types every now and then in companies of all ilk and size. Apple's numbers are starting to get into the astronomical range now and I can see that Apple needs managers who know how to deal with some really big numbers very quickly. That's my take on it.
Steve Jobs never wanted B players on his A team. I guess the current suits see things differently.
Yes.. I'm sure a guy who was EVP and CFO at one of the biggest airline company to take a lower ranking position at Apple is a "B" player.
CFO, financial planning and analysis, airlines...... to sales, Apple?!
I wonder if he is CFO-in-waiting to replace Oppenheimer some day.
They have got to be kidding. The airline business thrives on abusing its customer base with a business model as close to legalized theft as one could be. I reluctantly flew UAL "first class" from Asia to SFO as no other airline was available. The scallops they served were off and the service left much to be desired. It is hard to imagine that an A player can be found in the airlines other then the likes of JetBlue or South West where the last vestige of pro-customer still survives, albeit in a new age sort of way. I hope this is not a trend as I feel it does not bode well with everything Steve Jobs spent his life to promote.
I wonder if he is CFO-in-waiting to replace Oppenheimer some day.
In sales?
They have got to be kidding. The airline business thrives on abusing its customer base with a business model as close to legalized theft as one could be. I reluctantly flew UAL "first class" from Asia to SFO as no other airline was available. The scallops they served were off and the service left much to be desired. It is hard to imagine that an A player can be found in the airlines other then the likes of JetBlue or South West where the last vestige of pro-customer still survives, albeit in a new age sort of way. I hope this is not a trend as I feel it does not bode well with everything Steve Jobs spent his life to promote.
Exactly. It's worse than the worst of the telecom service provider industry and the cable industry combined.
They have got to be kidding. The airline business thrives on abusing its customer base with a business model as close to legalized theft as one could be. I reluctantly flew UAL "first class" from Asia to SFO as no other airline was available. The scallops they served were off and the service left much to be desired. It is hard to imagine that an A player can be found in the airlines other then the likes of JetBlue or South West where the last vestige of pro-customer still survives, albeit in a new age sort of way. I hope this is not a trend as I feel it does not bode well with everything Steve Jobs spent his life to promote.
Well if you eat scallops so long after they were caught you aren't "first class".
Regardless, IT has a habit of treating their customers as milk cattle, calling us back to the nose bag for the next installment of grain while the suction cups do their business.
Relax, it's just one guy
No, it's not just one guy. It's a new way of thinking at Apple. It's this guy, plus the Symantec guy, plus the Dixon's guy. None of these D-class bozos should be coming anywhere NEAR a world-class company like Apple, but apparently Tim Cook is intent on destroying Steve's legacy. Way to go, Tim.