Between the Lines

Larry Dignan, Andrew Nusca and Rachel King

Apple shareholders deny request to reveal Jobs succession plan

By | February 23, 2011, 11:22am PST

Summary: Apple shareholders rejected a proposal that required the company to disclose a succession plan.

Apple shareholders rejected a proposal that required the company to disclose a succession plan.

Preliminary vote counts from the shareholders meeting in Cupertine, Calif., indicated the proposal was shot down shortly after the meeting began at 10 a.m. The news was noted by CNBC.

The proposal was brought forth by a pension fund ,which requested more detail on Apple’s succession plan in light of the poor health of CEO and founder Steve Jobs.

Apple had argued that coughing up those succession details takes away its competitive edge. The company said it didn’t want to restrain its board or allow rivals to poach executives not on the CEO short list.

At the shareholder meeting, Tim Cook, Apple’s operating chief, spoke.

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RE: Apple shareholders deny request to reveal Jobs sucession plan
tringo007 28th Sep
Thank you, I have been searching for facts about this subject for ages and yours is the best I have found so far. foreign exchange
0 Votes
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I can understand Apple's board's decision. It does indeed create a climate of uncertainty that far surpasses Mr. Jobs' mortality to create a succession plan that might very well change week by week. The good news is that Apple is not a one man show in spite of the apparent vision of Mr. Jobs. His legacy will be not a string of commercial successes but rather the creation of a corporate climate where vision and excellence are rewarded. A corporate ecology that drives the vision rather than one man's vision driving the corporation.
To think that Apple is solely dependent upon Mr. Jobs' being in the CEO seat is to really cut him short on real vision. The real vision is an approach to markets, devices, interfaces that is dynamic, out of the ordinary, and with a whim and whimsy to 'put a dent in the universe' with everything Apple does. That legacy won't die quickly if at all.
In a very real way Steve Jobs has been the Edison of our day. Edison's greatest contribution, arguably, would not be the incandescent bulb, phonograph, et al, but rather the modern research laboratory where ideas can be explored, researched, developed, and finally marketed. Mr. Jobs has done a similar job for Apple.
Trust that legacy over the string of successes being the driving force. The former will survive for decades to come, the latter could perish with Steve's departure.
@dheady@...

Comparing Steve Jobs it Edison is a straigh up insult to anyone's intelligence! Jobs has created nothing original of his own (as did Edison) and admitted publicly that his company is good at 'stealing other people's ideas'. Steve Jobs is more of a PT Barnum comparison than Tohomas Edison, and he has proven it true, there's a sucker born a minute, and they are buying overpriced and overhyped, non-essential merchandise from Apple!
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I agree.
John Zern Updated - 23rd Feb 2011
@omdguy
Dean Kamen is far ahead closer to Edison then anyone else in the past many years. Juts read the list of his inventions.
But inventing life saving devices or amazing devices is not as note worthy as re-inventing a tablet or MP3 player.

And Apple purchased most of their technolgy from other companies.

Go figure.
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Two words...
NetAdmin1178 23rd Feb 2011
@omdguy
Well Said!
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@omdguy I think Tesla might argue, Edison did some stealing of his own. Further, Edison's use of a traveling electric-chair to scare folks away from AC was about as PT Barnum as it gets, right down to eletrocuting Topsy the circus elephant.
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steve@, Edison argue that he thought
John Zern 23rd Feb 2011
@omdguy
that the term should be changed from "electrocuted" to "Westinghoused".

(He was pushing for his DC electric, but they ended up standardizing on Westinghouse's AC, so Edison wanted a bad stigma attached to the competition.)

You're right, kind of "PT Barnum" in a way.
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Steve Who?
RememberOctober29 23rd Feb 2011
Huh? Why are we even having a discussion about a douche bag that set technology back 10 years and made sure it stays there with his Ashkenazi mafia friends at apple and all their iCronies in the media and iMoles they have planted in the Real innovation companies like Google, Nokia, HP, Sony, etc. to steal technology and ideas.
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uh-hoo!
Linux Geek 23rd Feb 2011
@dheady@...
In a very real way Steve Jobs has been the Edison of our day.
Yes siree! Without jobs we would have not seen the LIGHT and experienced the REVOLUTION!
My sources tell me that Job$ will be present at all of the major Apple events for the next 80 years.
HE will have a top spotlight while the new iCrap products will be presented to the fanboys crowd.
Of course you would be able to see Mr. Jobs outside the main events in his mausoleum, enbalmed just like comrade Lenin in Red Square.
0 Votes
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Right on, brother!
sackbut 23rd Feb 2011
@Linux Geek
@dheady@...
@dheady@...
I bet that trying to act as if there is no problem will do just as much harm if not more. The stock price has already started to slide.
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It's amazing
Ken_z 23rd Feb 2011
@dheady@...

How many people love to put Jobs & Apple down.

One of Jobs greatest talents was to look at technology and understand what could be done with it.

Best example? Xerox and their work with GUI. They had it in their hand and didn't know what to do. The only money they made from it was their tie up with Apple.

Xerox, BTW, was selling IBM PC Compatible Personal Computers running DOS at the time. Do you really think folks at MS never saw what MS was doing?

And Steve Jobs has understood technology in the market far better than any other company. Look around today. They have turned around consumer technology, showing the competition how to do it multiple times.

And Apple is now worth more than any other tech company.

More than MS
More than IBM
More than HP
and FAR more than Dell.

If Steve Jobs is such a dud why has be been considered the best CEO of the Decade?

And why have the other tech companies been caught with their pants down multiple times?

And why do they have so much trouble catching up?
@Ken_z

Well, Jobs and Apple are excellent at making money. At getting consumers to purchase whatever they're selling. Anyone who denies that is either blind or a moron.

That doesn't mean some people won't dislike them for their business practices, policies, or just the way they operate. The same thing happens to Microsoft. Get used to it.
Thank you, I have been searching for facts about this subject for ages and yours is the best I have found so far. foreign exchange
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Who cares?
Hasam1991 23rd Feb 2011
I'm still buying Apple stuff...
@Hasam1991 So am I. But only if it does what I want to do, and in a way that works well for me, at a cost I can afford. I don't buy Steve Jobs cachet, since I have no use for it.
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Very well said.
ShazAmerica 23rd Feb 2011
There are visionaries like Jobs, then there are the other hacks, that both used used to work together until recently, that thought "256k should be enough for anybody" and "the Internet is a fad" and that gem "nobody will pay for a touchscreen phone; I like our strategy, I like it a lot!"
@ShazAmerica
You know the one that said all that stuff.
@John Zern

Translate that to modern talk and youv'e got Loverock Davidson down to a science.
  • Flagged
This is a non-issue.
@james347

Not to a pension fund that does not want to see loads of people lose their nest egg the day Steve dies. Bad taste or not, he is mortal and potentially very sick. The fund manager is doing his due diligence. This response probably means the fund will divest at least some portion of it's Apple holdings.
@wraith404 If the fund were to divest, I would say that the manager approving it might probably be looking for employment elsewhere shortly thereafter. Like about nine milliseconds later.
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Jobs is a dead man walking
sackbut 23rd Feb 2011
@thetwonkey
The Smart money manager would sell his AAPL stock today and buy it back the day they announce his death.
@james347
Why??
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Good
oncall 23rd Feb 2011
The bloggosphere has more than enough fluff and useless rumors to keep itself busy.
@oncall Yes, that's the way it will always be, too.
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Actually....
Gis Bun 23rd Feb 2011
Wall Street wants to know who's taking over. With a bad choice, Apple stock will tumble.
0 Votes
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If they have to ask
Ken_z 23rd Feb 2011
@Gis Bun

They haven't really been paying attention.
Personally I think that Steve has put a lot of effort into grooming his replacement. Right now the company is still producing industry leading technology. It may not suit everyone, but any product that tries to be everything to everyone, is a fools journey. Only a fool would believe that one product can serve their every need. Not every fastener is a nail, and not every device is a full computer. So to say that every device is the same you are only fooling the intellectually challenged.
Shareholders are too scared to know. Let the good times role!
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Steve Who?
RememberOctober29 23rd Feb 2011
Why all the big deal about a douche bag that set technology back 10 years and made sure it stays there with his Ashkenazi mafia friends at apple and all their iCronies in the media and iMoles they have planted in the Real innovation companies like Google, Nokia, HP, Sony, etc. to steal technology and ideas.
You are kindly requested to go through the proposal and help me find out a suitable collaboration that would create millions of job opportunities in and outside USA. This is a research and innovation in the field of internet, that has capacity to change the way people acquire knowledge and earn money.
Thanks in advance..

Jogen Tripathi- an avid reader and researcher
Personal Profile in brief

Let me first introduce myself as Jogen Tripathi (male -35 years) from Ahmedabad- India. I am working as Professor with a B-School in Ahmedabad. Apart from handling teaching assignments, I also handle Research & Development projects. I incessantly keep myself update with latest information and have to search out facts, figures, conclusions, opinions etc. Right from childhood, I have developed hobbies of reading informative literature and then internet surfing. Hence, my USP lies in Knowledge sector. Even during my professional career starting from the year 2000, I have got associated with knowledge sector.

Problem- Shrinking job opportunities in USA

We know very well that the job opportunities have been shrinking in the US market since BPO (Business Process Outsourcing), KPO (Knowledge Process Outsourcing) and LPO (Legal Process Outsourcing) activities have become a common practice among the US companies. The situation has worsened since the financial crisis have hit the US economy in September 2008. The US economy is mainly a service sector economy. As a result of vanishing jobs, innumerable social as well as economic problems have enthralled the country. The inflow of qualified manpower has slowed down, and also those not able to find satisfactory opportunities, might think of relocating to other countries or returning to their original countries.

Solution- Project ASE (Ahead of Search Engine)
Creating millions of job opportunities through innovative ideas and technology

Before explaining the project, I will talk in brief, about innovation in the Information Technology sector. The launch of Personal Computer, Web-based email, Blog, Social Networking sites, Software Programming etc. have added much to the comfort of mankind and most importantly, created billions of job opportunities.
I want to add one more innovation to the list mentioned above. My concept is?Using Information Technology for Spreading, Serving and Sharing Knowledge. The name of the proposed project is ASE ? Ahead of Search Engine.

Limitations of search engine

Search Engines have indeed revolutionized the web world, and thereby the knowledge as well as IT sectors. However, like any other product of any age, it is not invincible. Modification and value addition will surely take place by some one, some day. For instance, several new features and facilities have been added to the web-based mail, since its first launch in nineties. Several companies have plunged into providing web-based mail services, thereby creating plentiful job opportunities. Still the search engine has not proved to be a one stop solution for knowledge seekers. Currently the search engines cater plethora of information in a disorganized manner or provide millions of links, from which the researcher is supposed to find out the required information. This exercise is time-consuming and sometimes the researcher ends up getting insufficient information or nothing at all. Being an avid reader and researcher, I have faced such hurdles several times. Same is the case with millions of internet users. We can never replace search engine, but can surely provide a better and powerful alternative; and thereby challenge its supremacy. For example, Tele Vision posed a challenge to the supremacy of radio, but has not been able to replace radio. Search Engine is like radio and I propose to offer TV to the world. I strive to give something innovative and unparallel to the world.

ASE Overview (ASE is a bunch of 11 Knowledge-cum-IT services)

ASE is a combination of Knowledge and IT sectors- the biggest one stop solution for net users and especially the knowledge seekers as well as knowledge sellers. A relevant example here would be a sea port that facilitates both the importers and exports. Same way, the knowledge sellers and knowledge seekers will come under single roof. Hence, it could fondly be called Research Port. It could become a melting point of catering all knowledge-based services. It could also open new ways of income for billions of people across the globe. It would cater knowledge in an unparalleled way and thereby generate innumerable employment opportunities. Around one million job opportunities could be created in USA in two years. In long run, ASE will make USA the hub and pioneer in Knowledge and IT sectors.

Objectives- Think BIG (Better, Innovative, Global)
(a) Changing the way people acquire knowledge, through the use of IT
(b) Establishing and strengthening knowledge-based economy
(c)Facilitating the knowledge seekers through fantastic knowledge-cum-IT services
(d) Creating billions of job opportunities across the world.

My Vision

I am sure that if the current age is called ?Age of Information?, the forthcoming age would be called ?Age of Knowledge?. The fast growth of KPO industry beacons the advent of Age of Knowledge. If a professional working in any sector or if a businessman doing any business, want to earn out of their knowledge- by selling the knowledge- it is not possible now. People are hardly able to utilize all their knowledge, because no such facility is available. With the use of Research Port, they would be able to do the same easily; and also the precious knowledge will be spread thereby bringing money. The one who captures the boom of knowledge industry early, will rule over the IT industry and also give the same a new identity as well as respect. Moreover, if the IT industry has to spread its wings up to the common people in the developing countries, it should provide more of knowledge, rather than the current areas of focus such as entertainment, information, news, data, music, e-commerce, games, images etc. In future the day might come when children would stop going to schools and get better education through internet. Researchers would submit their Ph.D. thesis to Research Port instead of submitting the same to universities. Several such astonishing phenomena could take place. I can foresee that ASE project has the capacity to beat all search engines. A whole new genre of fresh IT and knowledge services could be created further. For instance, after the success of Orkut, several other social networking sites were launched. Following the phenomenal success to Google search engine, several other search engines have been launched. Hotmail could also be added to the list of pioneering IT services. ASE will work as a revolution, both in the IT and Knowledge sectors. After all, innovative ideas decide who the winner is ? the conventionalist or the revolutionist. Here, the million dollar question is- Who will work for innovative ideas? Who will take risk? Who will invest for it?

Knowledge is industry

I view information and knowledge as two different entities- ?Information impacts your action, while knowledge changes your vision?. I take knowledge as an Industry- world?s oldest and biggest industry; covering everyone and everything. So far the industry has developed in a scattered way, now it is high time it should be developed in a structured and organized way.

Seeking Collaboration

Like a script writer, I have conceptualized the ASE Project; it needs the expert director to craft a super hit movie. Apart from my ideas and determination, I have nothing else. I seek collaboration with an IT company to launch the project. The investor company needs to provide active support, guidance, resources and finance to turn my ideas into reality. Above all, the investor company must be ready to be a pioneer in a new genre of knowledge-based services.

Stage One- Year One
Brief outline of Research Port- a Pilot Product under Project ASE

The researchers, scholars, scientists, professors, doctors belonging to different sectors would put their introductory/pilot/sample article-presentation-report-views-research papers on the site for the target users to see. The target users could be other researchers, corporates, universities, governments, etc. (Currently the scholars and researchers publish their articles in journals or periodicals or newspapers or websites that reach to few others in the same circle. The writer gets almost nothing.) The report would include names, contact details, areas of specialization and profile of the researcher. On the basis of the sample report, the user or user group would contact the researcher and ask for the whole detailed report or also place an order to prepare another such research report. This way the scholars, business entrepreneurs, corporates, students etc. would be in better position to take wise decisions. Details of market scenario, latest trend, history, and other such relevant information would be easily accessible to them.
Everything related to a particular sector would be available on Research Port, the users would not have to surf through thousands of links or sites. However, this will not work as news updates. Each section on the site would be assigned to a separate sector. I know how to segregate the sectors and how to popularize the concept. The various sections on Research Port would be sponsored by the companies engaged in same or related operations. Also, the Knowledge sellers will pay some nominal amount for placing their sample assignment on Research Port. Knowledge seekers will pay only to the sellers and not to Research Port. This will work like online consultancy. So far those who are spreading knowledge, get a nominal amount or fame. Now they will get much more, and would be prompted to conduct more research or write more. Sellers will not hesitate in paying some nominal charges to Research Port when they are sure to get big deals.
Many a time the consulting companies or group or individual consultants charge so high that small scale companies or middle class individuals can?t afford to hire their service. Here, everyone is a target user as well as contributor. Currently several scholars cant work in the field of their interest as they don?t get opportunity. They also don?t get proper guidance and information. Research Port will popularize the concept- ?Knowledge is Money?. The writers, designers, researchers and knowledge sellers would be prompted to utilize their intellectual property thoroughly. One need not attain any license from any university or organization to have a tag of ?Researcher?. However, this new concept will of course take some time to be popular, like for example; people across the world gradually shifted to e-mail and blog. The response to Research Port will give valuable inputs to launch the subsequent services- which are also a part of ASE.

Stage Two- Year Two
List of subsequent knowledge-cum-IT products under Project ASE
To be launched after reviewing the response to Research Port
(1) Government Watch
(2) Smart Surveyor
(3) Mother Nature
(4) Toppers Tell
(5) Foretell Frontier
(6) Idea Trade
(7) Kids? Castle
(8) Net Novel
(9) Language Law
(10) University Research

Guiding Principle for ASE
New knowledge is the most valuable commodity on earth. The more truth we have to work with, the richer we become. ---- George Bernard Shaw.

Awaiting Response from interested organizations, towards building a better, richer and healthier society. For further details regarding estimated investment and implementation process, please contact me; details are given below. Only few choose to be trendsetters.
Thanks and Regards,

Jogen Tripathi (Project Innovator- ASE),
B/27, Navkar Apartment,
Near Monapark Society,
Vejalpur, Ahmedabad- 380051.
Gujarat, INDIA.
Contact-091-09998502915
Email- jogentripathi@gmail.com
jogentrip@aol.in
@jogentripathi Should I give you my social security and bank account and credit card numbers? May I request that instead of taking all my life savings you leave me enough so I may eat at McDonalds?

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