“Could Jonathan Ive, the publicity-shy Essex boy who started his career designing toilets and combs, be close to performing one of the most extraordinary coups in American business history?” Chris Ayres asks for The Times Online. “Could this 40-year-old gym-toned, shaven-headed, Aston Martin-driving Brit, who lives in Twin Peaks, San Francisco, with his wife, who is a historian, and their twin sons, be the next man to run Apple Computer?”
Steve Jobs “is under growing pressure to name his ultimate replacement, as many fear that a company built on one man’s personality needs a clear succession plan,” Ayres writes.
Mr Ive and Mr Jobs are said to talk at least once a day, and Mr Ive shares his boss’s perfectionism,” Ayres writes.
“Some have suggested that Mr Ive lacks the charisma to become ‘Steve 2.0,’ and that he could never deliver Mr Jobs’s Hollywood-style press conferences,” Ayres writes.
Full article here.
Pardon us if we’re not shocked with the amazingly unique prescience of Ayres et al.:
Leading Apple is a very tricky proposition. Only one man so far has pulled it off successfully. Twice. The key ingredients seem to be a quest for perfection, a passion for the technology and the company, and the ability to relate Apple’s ideas to the world with style. Jobs is truly the charismatic force that propels Apple forward in the face of tremendous odds.
Right now, it looks like Apple’s best hope, and a very good one at that, is Jonathan Ive, Apple’s Vice President of Industrial Design… He seems to work well with the engineers responsible for the hardware. He is obviously a meticulous genius. And he has “that certain something” which, importantly, comes across on camera and in person. Whether he has the extremely rare “vision thing” that Jobs possesses; well, that’s still an open question.
Watch Ive in the Power Mac G5 intro video. Ive first appears about 40% in, at the 2:50 mark of the 6:33 minute video. Note that he is almost wearing a black mock turtleneck already. Contrast his presentation style and enthusiasm with the other Apple presenters. Can you sense the almost Jobsian, call it Junior Jobsian, aura? Ive has “it” while all of the other Apple employees in the video are just nice people talking about a computer. And Ive should only get better with time. Could we be watching Steve Jobs’ successor, Apple’s future CEO, in the 31-year-old Ive?
Jonathan Ive, Apple Computer CEO circa 2025. It has a pretty nice ring to it, doesn’t it? You heard it here first. I think Mr. Ive could pull it off. And I think Jobs thinks so, too; in about twenty years… – SteveJack, MacDailyNews, “What happens when Steve Jobs dies?” – August 20, 2003
Jobs is 52. There is at least 20 years left before he decides to retire IMO. Which means, at least 15 before we need to have this discussion.
Stop beating the grass…
Edit “There ARE at least 20 years left…”
Sorry…
no way , my money is on scott forstall
he has the looks , charisma and above all the tech knowledge to get the job done
plus he’s as cool as a cucumber without being arrogant
what aboot the way he handled that time machine cock up at the leopard unveiling ?
‘i wish i could go back in time before that happened !’
haha !
Junior Jobsian? That’s a bit much.
No need for a visionary fellow after Jobs. Steve Jobs created Apple, later rescued it and gave it its current direction. This last chapter of his reign is about consolidating Apple edge in music and creating/consolidating one in movies, corporation, cell phones and retail. When it’s all done, it will just be management time. And the next guy won’t need to be a genius at all. As an analogy, take a look at Microsoft: Gates is the genius, Ballmer is the #^&(*(&*… and well, MSFT is still flying.
My money’s on Michael Dell.
Ive would be an interesting choice as a successor. In addition, it would further highlight the philosophical differences between Apple and Microsoft: choose the creative/visionary guy, not the bean counter/salesman-of-the-month, to lead.
But yea, the discussion is probably a bit premature, though the call for at least naming a successor seems legit.
flappo: Part of the reason Apple is so innovative is because of Jobs’ arrogance, actually. That quest for ‘ultimate perfection’ – pushing beyond what’s really reasonable – is what got the iPhone out the door, not to mention countless products before that. And do you know any other CEO who, on his first day, has gone to a meeting, written down a list of almost everything the company sells, and said, “We’re not selling these anymore?”
“plus he’s as cool as a cucumber without being arrogant”
Hardly the man to fill Jobs’ shoes, I fear.
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The only problem with Steve Jobs as CEO is that he will have to step down one day. Nearly every aspect of his personality are part of what makes Apple products a hit..he IS the face of Apple. Those are large shoes to fill, and I doubt one man can do it.
I too hope we have at least 15 years before Jobs steps down, and I think we all can be reassured he will plan his succession with his usual fastidious nature.
…and it’s “Ive”, not Ives. Unless you think Apple could be better run by Burl Ives, and we could all have a Holly Jolly Christmas.
Uh yeah, right… if you think Steve is going to be around for another 15 or 20 years – you lack a total sense of reality.
As long as it doesn’t fall into the hands of the bean counters, marketers or salesmen. Once it enters into into this phase it will be the beginning of the end.
Apple is and always should be about creating great highly functional well designed products, then letting everything else revolve around that. For that, you need a creative person leading the charge.
I vote for Ive.
Naming a replacement is a good idea, you just never know when you’ll be in a car crash or your private jet will go down. I want SJ to live a long life but Apple needs to be prepared to move forward without him when that day does come up.
He’s too soft. When asked early on in a BBC interview about the iPod batteries, he said he wasn’t allowed to talk about it. “They don’t want you saying anything about it? “No.”
What kind of answer is that? Posters around here would eat him alive on a MacDaily basis.
Two things from the video:
First, IBM guy acknowledges that the G5 being launched is not as good as the technology ALREADY DEVELOPED and ready to replace gen one G5 as soon as suckers (consumers) are ready to fork over another couple thousands to get the latest and best.
Second, Steve need not worry about anyone – even with a charming Brit twang – emulating his singular ability to manipulate suckers (consumers).
Those that believe that Steve’s magic is the fact that he has great charisma are missing the point. Steve’s charisma comes from all of his other traits – his vision, his arrogance, his determination. If you are looking at charisma as your primary requisite, you are lost.
@ ChrissyOne
Your first post is dead on. Dead on.
Still, the worship around these parts continues and continues and continues. New ones (suckers) born every minute.
Would the headline be “Ive got the Jobs”?
While I am in no hurry to see Magnus Steven leave, at some point, after the iPhone is established worldwide and the Mac platform has reached 20%, Apple won’t need the marketing personality of Steve to continue. This is NOT an endorsement to push him aside, or that he won’t contribute. It is just my opinion that Apple will finally be big enough that His Steveness could then step back any time he pleased without fear of a down-spiral.
This discussion is pointless. When Jobs retires, the One Infinite Loop building will dematerialize, all iPods will turn into Zunes, and all Macs will run the Commodore 64 OS.
fm
You fools!
dont you know why Bill Gates has slowly been working his way out of Microsoft????
He has finally seen the light and will be taking over Apple!!
got to throw in a little : “jk” for all of you that cant see this as a joke
It’ll be Greg Joswiak!
Ferf:
You’ve said too much. Please prepare for “debriefing”.
Did I miss something?
The man continues to shine and proves age has nothing to do with being in his prime.
J. Ive is hip but no replacement.
Dougless
That could indeed be part of the deal Jobs had with Gates.
No kidding here.
interesting
j
I think the only person that can make you drop your jaw when presenting is… drum roll… Ballmer!
This guy has so much energy and passion, developers! developers! developers!
Steve Ballmer. He should be looking for a job soon anyway.
Then you can still get Stevenotes, but now with sweating and chair throwing.
Jonathan Ives will NOT be CEO of Apple. Ives is an incredible industrial designer and should remain in his position. He’s not a business person. Like others who’ve already posted, Scott Forstall is a much better choice than Ives for CEO of Apple.
My money is on Tim Cook, Apple’s Chief Operating Officer.
He is the one that was acting CEO when Jobs was in the hospital for cancer treatment.
I do not see how there can every really be a replacement of El Jobso. He is a genius at this. He loves it. He, it think, controls enough stock that no one can again force him out. Talk about iTV being a hobby. Apple is Steve’s hobby. Like so many hobbies this one can be all consuming at times. How many hobbies can make a noticeable change in/to the world?
No. The will take the reigns from Steve’s cold, stiff hands and it will be over. It will, God willing, not happen for another 30 years.
Ive is certainly a “junior” Jobs. And that’s about as close as we can get, these days. He designed the G4 iMac that Switched my wife, but the final design was far from the original. The first design shown to Jobs rated a “not good enough” and a suggestion they try for a “flower” design. Not a lot of help there, Steve. But, Ive was up to the task.
Tim Cook and all the other bean counters mentioned are merely a disaster waiting to happen. Great at what they do, they could run Dell or HP nicely – thank you. Apple is growing because it is not headed by a bean counter. Jobs respects what the bean counters tell him, but provides leadership beyond their imagination. Bean counters may make great capos and such, but the capo de capo needs to be a different sort of man.
My opinion.
Dave
Jonathan is great, but comments like “not too shabby” (what he said when Steve introduced the iPhone) ain’t going to cut it.
If Steve Jobs can say in charge for the next 20 years, Apple will be able to develop “A.I. Steve” to take over and make all the key decisions, provide the vision, and do the MacWorld keynotes. Then, any number of manager-types could run the day-to-day ops at Apple.
TowerTone, that was great!
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BTW, I don’t know why everyone is guessing – all evidence points to John Appleseed as the successor.
Steve Jobs replacement : Eric Schmidt, CEO of Goopple (Google + Apple).
Steve Jobs’s next position : U.S. democrat candidate for the 2016 election… he will run against Arnold Schwartzenegger.
I’m afraid that Apple is probably going to have to go outside of the company to get the CEO clout necessary to negotiate, mano a mano, with tough execs from Hollywood, music companies and wireless phone carrier companies, for example.
I say leave the excellent executive team in place, as is, sans Steve, and bring in a respected Larry Ellison type executive to strike fear and to intimidate from the top.
Jobs has many qualities that have made him the only person who could have lead Apple to this point, but his leadership style is so wrapped up in his cult of personality and the lingering authority from having been there from the beginning that it will be impossible for any successor to follow completely in his footsteps.
They shouldn’t be expected to, and they shouldn’t try. What they can and should continue is the practice of leading the market in innovation and being a steadfast advocate of the optimal customer experience. They don’t always succeed at it (headaches with one of my 10.5 installs last week reminded me of that), but they succeed often enough and are clear enough with their good intentions that I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.
Any successor needs to realize that that type of goodwill takes years to earn and is the foundation of the company’s success, but can be lost in a very short time, especially with new leadership at the helm.
Jobs has many documented shortcomings as an individual (don’t we all!), but perhaps the most telling shortcoming that he has as a leader is that he has yet to create an atmosphere that fosters upcoming leaders within his own organization. Other more classic leaders groom up-and-comers to become generals on a systematic basis. One could say that this leads to brain drain and needless churn, but it also seeds potential allies within the leadership of a wide range of other companies.
I say leave the excellent executive team in place, as is, sans Steve, and bring in a respected Larry Ellison type executive to strike fear and to intimidate from the top.
…and to inspire!
I heard God was applying for the job………
Wait, did someone say Ivy had a hip replacement? Jobs NEEDS a hip replacement? Dagnabbit, you kids get off my lawn!
Dougless:
When I glanced at your post, it looked like you were saying something about “jive” and a “hip replacement.” Interesting.
Dagnabbit Krioni, get off my post!
Dagnabbit Uncle Al, it’s Ive, not Ivy you idiot! Learn to type. And proofread.
BERTRAND SERLET, MOFOS! It’s time for another Frenchie to run La Pomme!
At the moment – if the worst happened – you’d have to put Cook in the position, because Wall St. would demand a safe pair of hands; in other words, an execution guy. Neither Ive, Forstall or Schiller could deliver the warm comfort that investors would demand.
However, in seven years time (when Steve should really be thinking of handing over) the pool of available talent might look considerably different and may not even be exclusively sourced from within Apple. In fact, it might come from the games industry, the phone industry or somewhere else.
In accordance with the Gretzky (?) quote that SPJ used some while ago, you don’t skate to where the puck is now but where it’s going to be in the future. Logically extended, you don’t pick your successor CEO to suit where Apple is at this time, but where you want it to be in the future.
scott’s been at apple for years , he even worked at next with steve
he has the proven track record , plus to be on the top tier of steve’s enclave for so long proves he’s got the right stuff
plus just look at his jim carrey like hair !
CHITTTTTYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!
Bet you Jobs has got more energy, conviction and longevity than Rupert Murdoch who is far from retiring…
…and Murdoch is 76.
in 2030 Apple should be in quite strong, commanding even, position!
“is under growing pressure to name his ultimate replacement”
Where is the growing pressure coming from? I have not read or heard anything concerning a replacement.
The reason for the delay in products recently is Apple is designing Jobs replacement. Jobs has been overseeing this project for sometime and will debut the beta version at MWSF. Look for subtle nuances that are un-Steve like.
Jobs is 52. There is at least 20 years left before he decides to retire IMO.
That’s assuming he doesn’t have a health crisis that forces him to step down. At least having a succession plan is prudent; you don’t want to wait until an emergency.
That said, I think we all have a bad feeling Apple is heading towards the fate of Wal Mart, Wendy’s, even the Muppets. All three had iconic founders, all three lost their way after their founders passed on. No small part is owed to the difficulty of grooming a successor in such shadows.
It’d be interesting to know if Steve couldv’e reached such heights under someone like himself…
Nothing lasts forever. People or companies. Or even sadder, countries.
I vote for Me.
I could use the $1 salary. And the plane. And the millions worth of stock. And the house. And the car. You get the point.
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Maybe Justin Long (he’s ‘Mac’ in case you didn’t know- shame on you if you didn’t)?
Cloning will be doable by then…so we could have Jobs forever? and Ballmer…aaaaahh…chairs will never be safe again. least the monkeys will still have their man at microsh*t if they clone that mellon headed fool ballmer. By then apple will own microsh*t and turn into a mouse making division, but then, even miscosh*t mice are poor…ah, give the shareholders back their money!
“I heard God was applying for the job………”
And risk losing a quarter of the Apple “faithful”?
Chavez has a better chance.
Scott Forstall is really good, has a much stronger business acumen than Jonathan Ive. But has anyone thought of Carly Fiorina? She’s totally awesome, and has incredible business skills with an outstanding vision. She’d be so perfect!
Just watch any of her speaches on YouTube.
Ah yes Carly Fiorna – she did such a great job of trying to run HP into the ground, I’m sure she’d be great at Apple! Maybe she could merge Apple and Dell, like she did with HP and Compaq!
The list of potential replacements could go on….
but why the hype now? As been said… he’s there for a few more years…