Apple will be on the hunt for two new board members soon

AppleInsider

Apple's board of directors is set for some significant changes over the course of the next year, with two members reaching or exceeding the recommended retirement age of 75.

Apple board member Arthur Levinson. Image credit: Apple

Apple's Board of Directors chair, Art Levinson, is turning 75 in March of 2025, and this would normally signal a move towards retirement sometime this year. His eventual departure from Apple's board could be announced as early as February, when Apple usually holds its annual shareholder meeting.

Levinson may opt to retire later this year or in early 2026, and would be the second board member set for retirement in the near future, reports Bloomberg. He is the former CEO and chairman of Genentech, and currently is also the CEO of Alphabet's Calico Life Sciences.

This opens up the possibility that Levinson could be replaced as chair by none other than Apple CEO Tim Cook. Cook, 64, could take on the chairman role in 2026 to presage his own retirement.

Cook could also name another current or replacement board member to become the chair. Levinson has been on the board of Apple since 2010, and continues to serve on the boards of Uber and Chevron.

Apple may not enforce its own rule

Apple does currently have a board member over the age of 75. Longtime member and former Northrop Grumman head Ronald Sugar, 76, was granted a special exception in March of 2024 due to what CEO Tim Cook has called his "deep insights into the company."

It would seem likely that the delay in Sugar's retirement from Apple's board will expire in the near future. Should Cook opt to remain as CEO only, this would set up a worldwide search for two new board members.

However, were Cook to also take on the chairman role, he would hardly be alone among tech CEOs. The CEOs of Meta and Microsoft -- Mark Zuckerberg and Satya Nadella, respectively -- currently serve as board chair of their respective companies.

Similarly, Jeff Bezos opted to become the chair of Amazon's board after retiring from the CEO role. It's possible that Tim Cook could follow in those footsteps, given his long tenure at the company.

Cook joined Apple in 1998, and was appointed to the CEO role by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs in August 2011, following Jobs' cancer diagnosis. Jobs, who had returned as CEO to save the company in 1997, died just over two months after appointing Cook as his successor.



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blastdoor

Cook becoming chairman and then picking his successor as CEO makes a lot of sense. Apple has a lot of good internal candidates. It would be good to transition while Cook is young enough to be an engaged chairman.

red oak

Apple Senior Execs and the Board of Directors have become like the US government - too old and too out of touch  

75 for a Board seat in the world of Tech?   Good grief.   Lower that to 65 or 70 immediately.   What possibly could this Board be contributing?   How could they possibly assess if Apple’s AI plans are off track? 

appleish

Cook has jumped the shark. Every time they put one of "his" posts on Musk's hellmouth, he's dragged like crazy.

Go into the sunset, Tim.

mpantone

Apple -- like many other Fortune 500 companies -- has moved away from having an executive chairman of the board. There is considerable value in having a non-executive (outside) chairman as well as non-executive directors for oversight.

Remember that Apple did have a CEO as executive chairman: Steve Jobs. And after Steve Jobs passed away, no Apple executive was appointed to the chairman position. I don't really see that changing.

edited January 26

chasm

red oak said:

Apple Senior Execs and the Board of Directors have become like the US government - too old and too out of touch  

75 for a Board seat in the world of Tech?   Good grief.   Lower that to 65 or 70 immediately.   What possibly could this Board be contributing?   How could they possibly assess if Apple’s AI plans are off track? 

You really, really, really, really, REALLY don't have a clue what a corporate board does.

Hint: they don't run the company. At all. That's for the CEO and SVPs and other executive roles.

Corporate boards, at least when they're anything like Apple's, are concerned with ensuring the long-term stability and philosophy/mission of the company. They are there to offer advice and guidance to the executive, and to ensure that the company continues to operate ethically (or at least legally).

As mentioned in the article, Levinson is himself a current CEO for an Alphabet company. Sugar is a board member on some of the largest US companies in a variety of industries. These guys make more money in a day than you (or I) will in our entire working life.

They are not tech geniuses, nor is that what they are there for. They are there because they know how the system works, and can bring multi-generational experience to how to deal with the ups and downs of the market, and the ebb and flow of government regulation. They may be old people, but they wouldn't be there if they were ready for the old folks' home.

And I'd take Art Levinson or Ron Sugar over the current occupant of the White House any day of the week, and I don't mean that as any sort of partisan statement. Board members are about stability, not chaos.

mpantone

The previous comment is correct.

A company's board of directors doesn't get involved in tactical decisions and actions concerning the next quarterly earnings release. They exist to think about the long term strategy of the company, where the company will be 5, 10, 50 years out, not how many Widget A's the company needs to push out the door this quarter or what color bands should ship with the Apple Watch this season.

Remember that the board of directors is elected by the shareholders. The CEO and other senior managers work at the pleasure of the board of directors.

For sure outside governance is much more valued in 2025 than in 1995. That is a positive change for corporate America.

m68000

chasm said:

red oak said:

Apple Senior Execs and the Board of Directors have become like the US government - too old and too out of touch  

75 for a Board seat in the world of Tech?   Good grief.   Lower that to 65 or 70 immediately.   What possibly could this Board be contributing?   How could they possibly assess if Apple’s AI plans are off track? 

You really, really, really, really, REALLY don't have a clue what a corporate board does.

Hint: they don't run the company. At all. That's for the CEO and SVPs and other executive roles.

Corporate boards, at least when they're anything like Apple's, are concerned with ensuring the long-term stability and philosophy/mission of the company. They are there to offer advice and guidance to the executive, and to ensure that the company continues to operate ethically (or at least legally).

As mentioned in the article, Levinson is himself a current CEO for an Alphabet company. Sugar is a board member on some of the largest US companies in a variety of industries. These guys make more money in a day than you (or I) will in our entire working life.

They are not tech geniuses, nor is that what they are there for. They are there because they know how the system works, and can bring multi-generational experience to how to deal with the ups and downs of the market, and the ebb and flow of government regulation. They may be old people, but they wouldn't be there if they were ready for the old folks' home.

And I'd take Art Levinson or Ron Sugar over the current occupant of the White House any day of the week, and I don't mean that as any sort of partisan statement. Board members are about stability, not chaos.

From my experience at the company I work for - the “board” has been made up of people who have no experience in the industry my company is involved in.  It’s both laughable and sad.  Moreover,  it’s more likely these people know a lot of financial terms but have not done any real work for many years, if at all.

mpantone

M68000 said:

chasm said:

red oak said:

Apple Senior Execs and the Board of Directors have become like the US government - too old and too out of touch  

75 for a Board seat in the world of Tech?   Good grief.   Lower that to 65 or 70 immediately.   What possibly could this Board be contributing?   How could they possibly assess if Apple’s AI plans are off track? 

You really, really, really, really, REALLY don't have a clue what a corporate board does.

Hint: they don't run the company. At all. That's for the CEO and SVPs and other executive roles.

Corporate boards, at least when they're anything like Apple's, are concerned with ensuring the long-term stability and philosophy/mission of the company. They are there to offer advice and guidance to the executive, and to ensure that the company continues to operate ethically (or at least legally).

As mentioned in the article, Levinson is himself a current CEO for an Alphabet company. Sugar is a board member on some of the largest US companies in a variety of industries. These guys make more money in a day than you (or I) will in our entire working life.

They are not tech geniuses, nor is that what they are there for. They are there because they know how the system works, and can bring multi-generational experience to how to deal with the ups and downs of the market, and the ebb and flow of government regulation. They may be old people, but they wouldn't be there if they were ready for the old folks' home.

And I'd take Art Levinson or Ron Sugar over the current occupant of the White House any day of the week, and I don't mean that as any sort of partisan statement. Board members are about stability, not chaos.

From my experience at the company I work for - the “board” has been made up of people who have no experience in the industry my company is involved in.  It’s both laughable and sad.  Moreover,  it’s more likely these people know a lot of financial terms but have not done any real work for many years, if at all.

It is a shame you work at a company like that. Blame the shareholders for electing a board of directors that is ineffective or out of touch with today's business climate for your particular industry. Shareholders have equity: they own part of the company. The board works for them who in turn hire senior management to run the business and ensure the company is properly staffed. Employees, management, and the board ultimately answer to the shareholders.

Remember that board members don't necessarily have to be top tier experts in a given company's business, you don't need a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering to sit on AMD's board of directors. For Fortune 500 companies, you do need to demonstrate some level of familiarity about successfully running large, complicated organizations/enterprises.

Apple is not seeking a replacement for the CEO or CFO. They are seeking replacements for some of their board members. Apple's board has changed -- like all companies -- over the years. For example, former Googler Eric Schmidt was once an Apple director. Same with Al Gore. Neither was intended to end up being a company executive.

edited January 27