一个时代的终结：苹果CEO乔布斯辞职

Apple’s Board of Directors today announced that Steve Jobs has resigned as Chief Executive Officer, and the Board has named Tim Cook, previously Apple’s Chief Operating Officer, as the company’s new CEO. Jobs has been elected Chairman of the Board and Cook will join the Board, effective immediately.

“Steve’s extraordinary vision and leadership saved Apple and guided it to its position as the world’s most innovative and valuable technology company,” said Art Levinson, Chairman of Genentech, on behalf of Apple's Board. “Steve has made countless contributions to Apple’s success, and he has attracted and inspired Apple’s immensely creative employees and world class executive team. In his new role as Chairman of the Board, Steve will continue to serve Apple with his unique insights, creativity and inspiration.”

“The Board has complete confidence that Tim is the right person to be our next CEO,” added Levinson. “Tim’s 13 years of service to Apple have been marked by outstanding performance, and he has demonstrated remarkable talent and sound judgment in everything he does.”

Jobs submitted his resignation to the Board today and strongly recommended that the Board implement its succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO.

As COO, Cook was previously responsible for all of the company’s worldwide sales and operations, including end-to-end management of Apple’s supply chain, sales activities, and service and support in all markets and countries. He also headed Apple’s Macintosh division and played a key role in the continued development of strategic reseller and supplier relationships, ensuring flexibility in response to an increasingly demanding marketplace.

Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced iPad 2 which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.

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乔布斯今天向苹果董事会递交了辞呈，并强烈推荐前苹果COO蒂姆·库克(Tim Cook)接任苹果CEO一职。

今年1月，乔布斯再度宣布病休。这位56岁的苹果掌门人在病休期间仍然担任CEO，积极参与公司业务和各项活动。此后，他将公司日常运营交由COO蒂姆·库克(Tim Cook)处理。

乔布斯的病休曾一度导致苹果股价暴跌，投资者认为此举增添了苹果未来前景的不确定性。不过此后，乔布斯并未从公众视线中消失。他不仅前去苹果总部工作，还出席了美国总统奥巴马举行的硅谷宴会，并主持了iPad 2发布会和苹果2011年全球开发者大会。

库克今年50岁，在乔布斯离开期间通常由他负责公司运营。熟悉苹果日常运营的人士称，与其他资深高管一样，库克理解乔布斯的想法，并设定了未来几年间的产品路线图。

新任CEO将不得不肩负起乔布斯目前承担的责任，如高管退休问题。由于苹果股价在过去5年间上涨近7倍，许多高管已成富豪，有可能选择离职变现，如何维持团队的完整性是CEO面临的一大难题。从去年11月至今，苹果零售主管罗 恩·约翰逊(Ron Johnson)、营销传播副总裁埃里森·约翰逊(Allison Johnson)和Mac软件工程主管伯特兰德·塞莱特(Bertrand Serlet)先后离职。