A wave of key executives leaving Apple

Over a stretch that began in the second half of 2022, Apple has lost about a dozen high-ranking executives. Most of these people carried the title of vice president, which is just below the senior vice president level that reports to Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook. They are some of the most important figures at Apple, responsible for day-to-day operation of many core functions.

The departures included vice presidents overseeing such fields as industrial design, the online store, information systems, Apple’s cloud efforts, aspects of hardware and software engineering, privacy matters, sales in emerging markets, subscription services and procurement. In all, that’s 11 key people — a far higher amount of turnover than we’ve seen in recent memory.

In past years, Apple may have lost one or two VPs during a 12-month window, like when the head of its self-driving car project bolted for Ford Motor Co. in 2021. To have such a large group leaving now — regardless of whether they retired, were pushed out, quit or left for another company — is notable.

Of course, there has been an influx of executives as well. Apple brought in a new chief people officer to take over duties held by retail boss Deirde O’Brien and a chief information officer to replace Mary Demby and David Smoley.

But in most cases, the departures have led Apple to redistribute responsibilities or promote people from within. Online store VP Anna Matthiasson was replaced by a direct report, Karen Rasmussen while the responsibilities of Tony Blevins, who ran procurement, were shifted to his peer, Dan Rosckes, and a promoted direct report, David Tom.

The sales VP in charge of emerging markets, Hugues Asseman, saw his role split between India Managing Director Ashish Chowdhary and Europe Senior Director Juan Castellanos. Hardware executive Laura Legros’s duties were shifted to a peer, Yannick Bertolus, the vice president of hardware integrity. His role was then assumed by Tom Marieb, a promoted direct report.

Software VP John Stauffer was replaced by two direct reports: Jeremy Sandmel and David Biderman. The role of services honcho Peter Stern was split between Apple Music VP Oliver Schusser, service design head Robert Kondrk and Corporate Development VP Adrian Perica. Cloud chief Michael Abbott’s role will be assumed by Jeff Robbin, vice president of services engineering, starting in April.

In those examples, Apple had successors who could step up — or at least some executives who could take on the departed employee’s responsibilities. But in the case of Evans Hankey, the company’s outgoing head of industrial design, Apple couldn’t find a replacement. Instead, it’s having the individual members of the design team report to Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams. Similarly, Apple didn’t replace its chief privacy officer.

Most of the recent departures were of Apple veterans, people who have been at the company 15-plus years. But in the case of its design and services vice presidents, among others, Apple lost executives in the prime of their careers who could have, one day, potentially reached the senior vice president level.

Moreover, I’ve been warned that this flurry of exits may just be the beginning. There are quite a few vice presidents at Apple who have been there for decades and could retire in the next few years.

Apple’s highest layer is in a similar position: 10 of its top 12 executives are about the same age. Half of them joined before the year 2000, and the age gap between CEO Cook and his most likely successor, operating chief Williams, is only about two years.

Longtime Apple mainstays who helped reinvent the company are also nearing the end of their careers. Former marketing chief Phil Schiller is stepping into a smaller Apple Fellow role focused on the App Store and media events, and Dan Riccio is shedding all hardware engineering responsibilities except the mixed-reality headset team.

The lower ranks could be ripe for turnover as well. People within Apple believe that some executives at the director and senior director levels (the two management tiers directly below vice president) also are considering stepping down in the not-too-distant future.

The pace of departures may stem in part from the growing burden of responsibilities placed on managers, in addition to other factors.

The company has become more bureaucratic over the years, especially when it comes to product development. It’s a massive global corporation, and that can mean it’s difficult to make an individual difference. Internal politics and cross-department wrangling can make it all the harder to navigate.

The company's resources have been shifted to longer-term initiatives, some of which may take years to be ready (if they ever are). Some managers were probably upset about losing people to endeavors like the company’s mixed-reality group and self-driving vehicle team.

In some cases, Apple vice presidents were considered to be candidates to replace the senior vice president of their organization — a move that can come with a four- or fivefold pay increase. But they were likely never given clarity on if or when that may happen. In the case of Hankey, the outgoing design leader, there was said to have been a lack of empowerment — including the ability to override engineering decisions made by other departments.

Apple’s structure itself is a source of stress. The company is organized functionally, which means that teams contribute to all its big products. For instance, a vice president of hardware engineering would be helping oversee parts of the iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, Mac and AirPods.

And a software engineering leader would be running teams that contribute to iOS, macOS, watchOS and tvOS, which operate on dozens of hardware products.

That organization made sense in the early days of Apple, but has led to increased product development delays, resources being spread too thin, and additional engineering complexity. There are benefits too, of course. It lets Apple put its best minds on every item in the portfolio.

Finally, let’s not forget one of the biggest reasons people leave a job: money. Apple’s stock fell nearly 30% last year, following three years of major gains. That’s weighed on compensation. In the case of an Apple vice president, stock can be well over half of pay.

On that front, even Cook has taken a hit. On Friday, Apple shareholders approved a new pay package that included a roughly 40% reduction. Over 80% of his 2023 income will be in stock, with 75% of that tied to company performance.

But nobody should be truly worried about the CEO going anywhere soon: His shares continue to vest into 2027.

Read the full article at the original website.