Angela Ahrendts talks future after Apple as Deirdre O'Brien receives stock bonus

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in General Discussion
Angela Ahrendts on Thursday briefly commented on near-term plans after it was announced that she would depart her role as Apple's retail chief in April, while Ahrendts' successor, Deirdre O'Brien, took receipt of a stock bonus potentially worth tens of millions of dollars.

Angela Ahrendts
Angela Ahrendts at the Ralph Lauren fashion show in New York on Thursday. | Source: WWD


Making an appearance at a Ralph Lauren fashion show in New York, Ahrendts declined to comment on future career ambitions, but said she intends to "take the summer off" and travel before committing to a new venture, reports WWD.

Currently on the docket is a mission to Rwanda and stop in with her two children who live in London. She also plans to spend time with her husband, who has been on the move between London and San Francisco since Ahrendts was named SVP of Retail at Apple in 2013.

Earlier this week it was announced that Ahrendts will leave her post at Apple in April. The role of retail chief goes to company veteran Deirdre O'Brien, who will also continue to carry out current duties as head of human resources and "People-related functions."

O'Brien was officially named SVP of Retail + People on Tuesday, with Apple issuing the requisite Securities and Exchange Commission filing and updating her online biography to reflect the change. A separate SEC filing on Thursday reveals O'Brien took receipt of a stock bonus on that same day.

The bonus consists of 47,844 restricted stock units split into two equal batches, one scheduled to vest over time and another slated to vest based on performance. Assuming continued employment, O'Brien will see 23,922 RSUs convert in thirds on Aug. 5, 2021, Aug. 5, 2022 and Aug. 5, 2023. The executive can double the remaining 23,922 RSUs upon vesting depending on Apple's average stock performance through Oct. 1, 2021.

If all RSUs vest, and performance goals are satisfied, O'Brien stands to gain common stock currently worth $12.3 million. A separate statutory SEC filing detailing O'Brien's current holdings shows the executive owns 137,913 shares of Apple stock worth $23.6 million at the end of trading today.
«1

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 30
    trashman69trashman69 Posts: 161member
    Asked to leave or resigned of her free will?  Any thoughts?
  • Reply 2 of 30
    LatkoLatko Posts: 398member
    trashman69 said:
    Asked to leave or resigned of her free will?  Any thoughts?

    She wasn’t very happy (unlike her saying so) or Apple wasn’t very happy (unlike them saying so). Or both.
    edited February 2019
  • Reply 3 of 30
    cubefancubefan Posts: 53member
    Five years is long enough when your family is thousands of miles away - what's the difference between 100,000 developers and store workers? nothing, although I'm not a fan of what is known over here as Human Remains - there's still a job to be done and keeping your staff happy and productive is the most important thing HR can do - not be there just to control and limit and block creative people - which is what they are often guilty of.. Ms Ahrendts leave the retail side in better shape than it was when she arrived, job done. To claim anything else is unfair to a fellow human being.
    patchythepirate
  • Reply 4 of 30
    flydogflydog Posts: 1,123member
    trashman69 said:
    Asked to leave or resigned of her free will?  Any thoughts?
    What's the difference?  This isn't TMZ.
    designrAppleExposedmacxpress
  • Reply 5 of 30
    19831983 Posts: 1,225member
    Ah so that might of been a reason for her to leave...I didn’t realize she left her family in the UK while at Apple across the pond. 
    AppleExposed
  • Reply 6 of 30
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    trashman69 said:
    Asked to leave or resigned of her free will?  Any thoughts?
    She is a retail sales specialist.   Apple is moving  towards using its stores to provide product and customer services rather than mere sales.  But, that requires developing a higher level of employee with a higher level of knowledge and experience.   They'll still have people there to check you out (as they do now), but the emphasis is shifting away from her specialty.
  • Reply 7 of 30
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    cubefan said:
    Five years is long enough when your family is thousands of miles away - what's the difference between 100,000 developers and store workers? nothing, although I'm not a fan of what is known over here as Human Remains - there's still a job to be done and keeping your staff happy and productive is the most important thing HR can do - not be there just to control and limit and block creative people - which is what they are often guilty of.. Ms Ahrendts leave the retail side in better shape than it was when she arrived, job done. To claim anything else is unfair to a fellow human being.
    However....
    Her title is:  Senior VP of people.   That carries a very different connotation than VP of Human Resources.   A human resource is just a machine put in place to do a job.  Apple employees people.   The best people.  Not slaves or machines.
  • Reply 8 of 30
    wuchmeewuchmee Posts: 41member
    Dear Ms. O'Brien, please re-establish an Apple Store visit as a premier retail customer experience, i.e., get back to where Apple once belonged.
  • Reply 9 of 30
    rogifan_newrogifan_new Posts: 4,297member
    GeorgeBMac said:
    cubefan said:
    Five years is long enough when your family is thousands of miles away - what's the difference between 100,000 developers and store workers? nothing, although I'm not a fan of what is known over here as Human Remains - there's still a job to be done and keeping your staff happy and productive is the most important thing HR can do - not be there just to control and limit and block creative people - which is what they are often guilty of.. Ms Ahrendts leave the retail side in better shape than it was when she arrived, job done. To claim anything else is unfair to a fellow human being.
    However....
    Her title is:  Senior VP of people.   That carries a very different connotation than VP of Human Resources.   A human resource is just a machine put in place to do a job.  Apple employees people.   The best people.  Not slaves or machines.
    VP of People is just marketing speak. At my company it’s not called Human Resources it’s called Human Capital.
  • Reply 10 of 30
    rogifan_newrogifan_new Posts: 4,297member
    Asked to leave or resigned of her free will?  Any thoughts?
    She is a retail sales specialist.   Apple is moving  towards using its stores to provide product and customer services rather than mere sales.  But, that requires developing a higher level of employee with a higher level of knowledge and experience.   They'll still have people there to check you out (as they do now), but the emphasis is shifting away from her specialty.
    Once again you’re stating things you say Apple is doing without sourcing. When were Apple stores under Angela ever about mere sales? Like I said in another thread, she was criticized for supposedly pushing more sales online. People complained because there weren’t lines outside the door on product launch days. I don’t see any evidence that under her tenure Apple stores shifted from service to sales. Today at Apple and the whole town square thing don’t come across to me as pushing sales. Calling Angela, formerly CEO of Burberry, a retail sales specialist is demeaning, IMO. I don’t remember anyone ever saying that about Ron Johnson who was head of merchandizing for Target before he came to Apple. 
    AppleExposedMisterKitmacxpress
  • Reply 11 of 30
    65026502 Posts: 380member
    cubefan said:
    Ms Ahrendts leave the retail side in better shape than it was when she arrived, job done. To claim anything else is unfair to a fellow human being.
    So you're the thought police now? No she didn't, Apple Stores are much worse now than they were. But, she did leave her bank account in much better shape than when she arrived.
  • Reply 12 of 30
    65026502 Posts: 380member

    cubefan said:
    Five years is long enough when your family is thousands of miles away - what's the difference between 100,000 developers and store workers? nothing, although I'm not a fan of what is known over here as Human Remains - there's still a job to be done and keeping your staff happy and productive is the most important thing HR can do - not be there just to control and limit and block creative people - which is what they are often guilty of.. Ms Ahrendts leave the retail side in better shape than it was when she arrived, job done. To claim anything else is unfair to a fellow human being.
    However....
    Her title is:  Senior VP of people.   That carries a very different connotation than VP of Human Resources.   A human resource is just a machine put in place to do a job.  Apple employees people.   The best people.  Not slaves or machines.
    It is just semantics and marketing BS, it doesn't connote anything different. Just like, as great as Andy Hertzfeld was, he wasn't really a wizard (https://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Software_Wizard.txt).
    edited February 2019
  • Reply 13 of 30
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    rogifan_new said:
    Asked to leave or resigned of her free will?  Any thoughts?
    She is a retail sales specialist.   Apple is moving  towards using its stores to provide product and customer services rather than mere sales.  But, that requires developing a higher level of employee with a higher level of knowledge and experience.   They'll still have people there to check you out (as they do now), but the emphasis is shifting away from her specialty.
    Once again you’re stating things you say Apple is doing without sourcing. When were Apple stores under Angela ever about mere sales? Like I said in another thread, she was criticized for supposedly pushing more sales online. People complained because there weren’t lines outside the door on product launch days. I don’t see any evidence that under her tenure Apple stores shifted from service to sales. Today at Apple and the whole town square thing don’t come across to me as pushing sales. Calling Angela, formerly CEO of Burberry, a retail sales specialist is demeaning, IMO. I don’t remember anyone ever saying that about Ron Johnson who was head of merchandizing for Target before he came to Apple. 
    You need to pay more attention. 
    No, I am not going to go back and pull out every Apple announcement about services.  I've already listed the thrust of them.

    But you are correct that the town square thing is not pushing sales -- it's a services thing.   Thanks for proving my point.
    But I am sorry, that you think calling a spade a spade is demeaning.   Well, not really. 
  • Reply 14 of 30
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    6502 said:

    cubefan said:
    Five years is long enough when your family is thousands of miles away - what's the difference between 100,000 developers and store workers? nothing, although I'm not a fan of what is known over here as Human Remains - there's still a job to be done and keeping your staff happy and productive is the most important thing HR can do - not be there just to control and limit and block creative people - which is what they are often guilty of.. Ms Ahrendts leave the retail side in better shape than it was when she arrived, job done. To claim anything else is unfair to a fellow human being.
    However....
    Her title is:  Senior VP of people.   That carries a very different connotation than VP of Human Resources.   A human resource is just a machine put in place to do a job.  Apple employees people.   The best people.  Not slaves or machines.
    It is just semantics and marketing BS, it does't connote anything different. Just like, as great at Andy Hertzfeld was, he wasn't really a wizard (https://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Software_Wizard.txt).
    LOL....  Why would Apple use an internal, non-pubic position as a marketing gimmick?
    No, knowing what we know about Apple:  They look to employ the best available and then grow and develop them into the best they can be.   That requires a VP of PEOPLE -- not inanimate resources or slaves.
  • Reply 15 of 30
    AppleExposedAppleExposed Posts: 1,805unconfirmed, member
    Latko said:
    trashman69 said:
    Asked to leave or resigned of her free will?  Any thoughts?

    She wasn’t very happy (unlike her saying so) or Apple wasn’t very happy (unlike them saying so). Or both.
    We don't know what happened but consider this:

    She was hired right before the biggest fashion piece Apple ever released was launched. She left shortly after it was a confirmed success. For all we know it could have been a 5 year contract or her departure planned ahead of time.

    Let's not turn everything into doom like some articles already have:

                   "Apple loses retail chief"

    edited February 2019 GeorgeBMacMisterKit
  • Reply 16 of 30
    65026502 Posts: 380member
    6502 said:

    cubefan said:
    Five years is long enough when your family is thousands of miles away - what's the difference between 100,000 developers and store workers? nothing, although I'm not a fan of what is known over here as Human Remains - there's still a job to be done and keeping your staff happy and productive is the most important thing HR can do - not be there just to control and limit and block creative people - which is what they are often guilty of.. Ms Ahrendts leave the retail side in better shape than it was when she arrived, job done. To claim anything else is unfair to a fellow human being.
    However....
    Her title is:  Senior VP of people.   That carries a very different connotation than VP of Human Resources.   A human resource is just a machine put in place to do a job.  Apple employees people.   The best people.  Not slaves or machines.
    It is just semantics and marketing BS, it does't connote anything different. Just like, as great at Andy Hertzfeld was, he wasn't really a wizard (https://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Software_Wizard.txt).
    LOL....  Why would Apple use an internal, non-pubic position as a marketing gimmick?
    No, knowing what we know about Apple:  They look to employ the best available and then grow and develop them into the best they can be.   That requires a VP of PEOPLE -- not inanimate resources or slaves.
    That can be said of every company. No company says we hire mediocre people and let them languish. It's not really a non-public internal position; Apple hires thousands of people a year and for PR sakes likes to be known as a benevolent employer. But, having a mission statement and actually following it are 2 different things. I'm sure Apple's HR department can be just as brutal as any others. And, let's be clear, HR personnel care about themselves #1, the company #2 and the employees (a distant) #3. I've never met a highly intelligent HR person; smart people just don't go into HR.
  • Reply 17 of 30
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    6502 said:
    6502 said:

    cubefan said:
    Five years is long enough when your family is thousands of miles away - what's the difference between 100,000 developers and store workers? nothing, although I'm not a fan of what is known over here as Human Remains - there's still a job to be done and keeping your staff happy and productive is the most important thing HR can do - not be there just to control and limit and block creative people - which is what they are often guilty of.. Ms Ahrendts leave the retail side in better shape than it was when she arrived, job done. To claim anything else is unfair to a fellow human being.
    However....
    Her title is:  Senior VP of people.   That carries a very different connotation than VP of Human Resources.   A human resource is just a machine put in place to do a job.  Apple employees people.   The best people.  Not slaves or machines.
    It is just semantics and marketing BS, it does't connote anything different. Just like, as great at Andy Hertzfeld was, he wasn't really a wizard (https://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Software_Wizard.txt).
    LOL....  Why would Apple use an internal, non-pubic position as a marketing gimmick?
    No, knowing what we know about Apple:  They look to employ the best available and then grow and develop them into the best they can be.   That requires a VP of PEOPLE -- not inanimate resources or slaves.
    That can be said of every company. No company says we hire mediocre people and let them languish. It's not really a non-public internal position; Apple hires thousands of people a year and for PR sakes likes to be known as a benevolent employer. But, having a mission statement and actually following it are 2 different things. I'm sure Apple's HR department can be just as brutal as any others. And, let's be clear, HR personnel care about themselves #1, the company #2 and the employees (a distant) #3. I've never met a highly intelligent HR person; smart people just don't go into HR.
    Yes, that CAN be said of any company.   But saying it doesn't make it true.

    You can also say that Apple is just another mediocre, average company (which you basically did).  But saying that doesn't make it true either.

    And, by the way, managing high quality people doesn't mean you have to be benevolent.   Steve pushed his people hard.   Almost as hard as they pushed themselves.  And, as he said:  "A level players don't like to work with "B" level players".   Tim has continued that culture.

    Human Resource departments are for companies who employ human resources.   Apple employs smart, high quality, hard working, committed people.
  • Reply 18 of 30
    65026502 Posts: 380member
    GeorgeBMac said:
    6502 said:
    6502 said:

    cubefan said:
    Five years is long enough when your family is thousands of miles away - what's the difference between 100,000 developers and store workers? nothing, although I'm not a fan of what is known over here as Human Remains - there's still a job to be done and keeping your staff happy and productive is the most important thing HR can do - not be there just to control and limit and block creative people - which is what they are often guilty of.. Ms Ahrendts leave the retail side in better shape than it was when she arrived, job done. To claim anything else is unfair to a fellow human being.
    However....
    Her title is:  Senior VP of people.   That carries a very different connotation than VP of Human Resources.   A human resource is just a machine put in place to do a job.  Apple employees people.   The best people.  Not slaves or machines.
    It is just semantics and marketing BS, it does't connote anything different. Just like, as great at Andy Hertzfeld was, he wasn't really a wizard (https://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Software_Wizard.txt).
    LOL....  Why would Apple use an internal, non-pubic position as a marketing gimmick?
    No, knowing what we know about Apple:  They look to employ the best available and then grow and develop them into the best they can be.   That requires a VP of PEOPLE -- not inanimate resources or slaves.
    That can be said of every company. No company says we hire mediocre people and let them languish. It's not really a non-public internal position; Apple hires thousands of people a year and for PR sakes likes to be known as a benevolent employer. But, having a mission statement and actually following it are 2 different things. I'm sure Apple's HR department can be just as brutal as any others. And, let's be clear, HR personnel care about themselves #1, the company #2 and the employees (a distant) #3. I've never met a highly intelligent HR person; smart people just don't go into HR.
    Yes, that CAN be said of any company.   But saying it doesn't make it true.

    You can also say that Apple is just another mediocre, average company (which you basically did).  But saying that doesn't make it true either.

    And, by the way, managing high quality people doesn't mean you have to be benevolent.   Steve pushed his people hard.   Almost as hard as they pushed themselves.  And, as he said:  "A level players don't like to work with "B" level players".   Tim has continued that culture.

    Human Resource departments are for companies who employ human resources.   Apple employs smart, high quality, hard working, committed people.
    The point is calling yourself the VP of People is no different than VP of HR. Apple doesn't treat its employees any different than any other fortune 100 company just because it has People vs HR in the title.

    There are not many "Steves" out there that have the vision and push their people hard. Most execs push their people hard with their vision on their bank account. Steve was unique, sadly there are no more Steves out there. But, then again, Steve made sure Google wouldn't poach his people so he wasn't perfect either.
  • Reply 19 of 30
    MisterKitMisterKit Posts: 493member
    It is hard to read the conditions of her leaving. It is hard to imagine any major changes in Apple retail. It seems stable and solid. It does seem like the short time between the announcement and her actual departure date would signal an abrupt decision, whether hers or Apple’s. The reasons may never be made public.
  • Reply 20 of 30
    GeorgeBMacGeorgeBMac Posts: 11,421member
    6502 said:
    GeorgeBMac said:
    6502 said:
    6502 said:

    cubefan said:
    Five years is long enough when your family is thousands of miles away - what's the difference between 100,000 developers and store workers? nothing, although I'm not a fan of what is known over here as Human Remains - there's still a job to be done and keeping your staff happy and productive is the most important thing HR can do - not be there just to control and limit and block creative people - which is what they are often guilty of.. Ms Ahrendts leave the retail side in better shape than it was when she arrived, job done. To claim anything else is unfair to a fellow human being.
    However....
    Her title is:  Senior VP of people.   That carries a very different connotation than VP of Human Resources.   A human resource is just a machine put in place to do a job.  Apple employees people.   The best people.  Not slaves or machines.
    It is just semantics and marketing BS, it does't connote anything different. Just like, as great at Andy Hertzfeld was, he wasn't really a wizard (https://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Software_Wizard.txt).
    LOL....  Why would Apple use an internal, non-pubic position as a marketing gimmick?
    No, knowing what we know about Apple:  They look to employ the best available and then grow and develop them into the best they can be.   That requires a VP of PEOPLE -- not inanimate resources or slaves.
    That can be said of every company. No company says we hire mediocre people and let them languish. It's not really a non-public internal position; Apple hires thousands of people a year and for PR sakes likes to be known as a benevolent employer. But, having a mission statement and actually following it are 2 different things. I'm sure Apple's HR department can be just as brutal as any others. And, let's be clear, HR personnel care about themselves #1, the company #2 and the employees (a distant) #3. I've never met a highly intelligent HR person; smart people just don't go into HR.
    Yes, that CAN be said of any company.   But saying it doesn't make it true.

    You can also say that Apple is just another mediocre, average company (which you basically did).  But saying that doesn't make it true either.

    And, by the way, managing high quality people doesn't mean you have to be benevolent.   Steve pushed his people hard.   Almost as hard as they pushed themselves.  And, as he said:  "A level players don't like to work with "B" level players".   Tim has continued that culture.

    Human Resource departments are for companies who employ human resources.   Apple employs smart, high quality, hard working, committed people.
    The point is calling yourself the VP of People is no different than VP of HR. Apple doesn't treat its employees any different than any other fortune 100 company just because it has People vs HR in the title.


    True -- you can call yourself anything you like.   But that does not mean that the title is meaningless.   Real people and real companies use real titles meant to describe the purpose and goals of the position.   Your jaded outlook doesn't change that.

    And, your contention that Apple is just a typical Fortune 100 corporation is not supported by reality.
Sign In or Register to comment.