Apple's iPod VP to Spend More Time With Friends, Family …
If IBM veteran Mark Papermaster is able to begin work at Apple (AAPL) without being sued into oblivion by his former employer, he may end up in Tony Fadell’s old office. Fadell, senior vice president of Apple’s iPod division and one of the chief architects of its audio strategy, is leaving the company and Papermaster is his intended replacement. The reason for Fadell’s departure? A young family that needs tending to.
Fadell is one of Apple’s key technology executives, and the company is spinning the hell out of his departure, which frankly can’t be viewed as anything other than bad news. Fadell is not leaving Apple, so much as he is “reducing” his role, the company tells us. And he will, of course, remain a trusted adviser to Steve Jobs, which I suppose means he’s still on the Apple CEO’s Christmas card list.
Fadell, it should be noted, has on occasion been mentioned as one of Jobs’s potential successors, given his deep involvement in some of Apple’s marquee product lines. That said, he was nowhere to be seen at either of the company’s last two public events, which were clearly intended to show off the depth of Apple’s executive bench. And obviously his name is no longer on the short list for the CEO seat. Perhaps, it hasn’t been for some time, and that’s what inspired this new focus on family life.
Below is the full text of Apple’s release on the personnel changes.
Mark Papermaster Joins Apple as Senior Vice President of Devices Hardware Engineering
CUPERTINO, California—November 4, 2008—Apple today announced that Mark Papermaster is joining the Company as senior vice president of Devices Hardware Engineering, reporting to Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Papermaster, who comes to Apple from IBM, will lead Apple’s iPod and iPhone hardware engineering teams. Papermaster has 25 years of product and technology experience, and was previously a vice president at IBM.
Apple also announced that Tony Fadell, Apple’s senior vice president of the iPod Division, and his wife Danielle Lambert, vice president of Human Resources, are reducing their roles within the company as they devote more time to their young family. Fadell will remain at Apple as an advisor to the CEO. Lambert will depart the company at the end of this year after a successor is in place.
‘Mark is a seasoned leader and is going to be an excellent addition to our senior management team,’ said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. ‘Tony and Dani have each made important contributions to Apple over the past eight years. We’re sorry to see Dani go, and are looking forward to working with Tony in his new capacity.’
Papermaster has a Bachelors of Science in Electrical Engineering degree from the University of Texas, and Masters of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Vermont in 1988. He is active with the University of Texas where he is a member of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Advisory Council.”
