Who Will Take Over Tim Cook's Position as COO?

Tim Cook's promotion to CEO of Apple has left without a COO and analysts are already speculating on who might take his place.

The most likely candidate appears to be Jeff Williams who is currently the Senior VP of Operations. Jeff joined Apple in 1998 as head of worldwide procurement and in 2004 he was named vice president of Operations. In 2007, Jeff played a significant role in Apple's entry into the mobile phone market with the launch of the iPhone, and he has led worldwide operations for iPod and iPhone since that time.

Prior to Apple, Jeff worked for the IBM Corporation from 1985 to 1998 in a number of operations and engineering roles. He holds a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from North Carolina State University and an MBA from Duke University.


AllThingsD has a collection of quotes from various analysts on the topic.

Piper Jaffray
"My take is Apple does need a COO, and effectively has one with Jeff Williams," says Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster. "He has been VP Of operations since 2004, and was promoted to Senior VP a year ago. Whether or not Jeff gets the COO title is hard to say."

Sterne Agee
"There will be a point in time where there will be a need for a successor to Tim Cook," Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu says. "Obviously, that point isn't now but could be in a few years."

Harvard Business School
"COOs serve two roles - to broaden a potential CEO successor and/or to divide up the administrative responsibilities in an organization," says Harvard Business School professor David Yoffie. "It is too early for the former, and Tim Cook will have to decide if the latter is necessary. Many big companies do not have COOs, and I suspect that Apple will not appoint a new COO in the near term."


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