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Tim Cook Faced an 'Insurrection' Following Announcement of Bob Mansfield's Retirement

Wednesday October 3, 2012 8:23 am PDT by Eric Slivka
Earlier this year, Apple announced that hardware chief Bob Mansfield would be retiring, staying on for several months as iPad hardware engineering chief Dan Riccio transitioned into the broader role overseeing the company's entire hardware effort. But just two months later, Apple announced that Mansfield would be staying on, retaining his senior vice president title but without a specific role other than to "work on future products".

A new report from Bloomberg Businessweek profiling Apple one year after the death of Steve Jobs reveals the backstory behind Mansfield's reversal, noting that Apple CEO Tim Cook found himself facing an "insurrection" from Apple employees following Mansfield's retirement announcement.
According to three people familiar with the sequence of events, several senior engineers on Mansfield’s team vociferously complained to Cook about reporting to his replacement, Dan Riccio, who they felt was unprepared for the magnitude of the role. In response, Cook approached Mansfield and offered him an exorbitant package of cash and stock worth around $2 million a month to stay on at Apple as an adviser and help manage the hardware engineering team.
Officially, Apple's hardware engineering group is now under the oversight of Riccio, so it is unclear exactly how Mansfield and Riccio are working together on their projects. Both executives report directly to Cook, and it is unknown how long Mansfield intends to remain with Apple.

Tags: Tim Cook, businessweek.com, Bob Mansfield
[ 149 comments ]


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kjs862
79 months ago
Things with Apple haven't sit right with me lately.
Rating: 50 Votes
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MH01
79 months ago
2 million a month.....WOW!
Rating: 21 Votes
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Jsameds
79 months ago
They offered him $1 million but he doubled down ;)
Rating: 19 Votes
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TrentS
79 months ago
2 Million A Month!?

2 Million a month!!?? That's a lot of dough to stay on! Dang!!!

:eek::eek::eek::eek:

Mansfield: "If they would have just offerred me 2 weeks more vacation, I would have took it!" ha ha
Rating: 13 Votes
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Hakone
79 months ago
"We won't answer to anyone but Shrek"
Rating: 12 Votes
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TrentS
79 months ago
What The-!!??

Sucks that people's personal lives and decisions get exploited like this. It's nobody's business.


Dude, Apple is a "publicly traded company". What do you mean it is nobody's business?!

:confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:
Rating: 11 Votes
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EvilEvil
79 months ago
Anyone else think Bob looks like Chris Farley?
Rating: 11 Votes
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Saladinos
79 months ago

In before Steve will never allow this. Although he probably wouldn't have lol


Actually, I think it's exactly what Steve would have done. Steve spoke a lot about hiring and how keeping the best people working for you is important.
Rating: 9 Votes
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bretm
79 months ago

Whenever someone says, "it's not about the money," it's about the money.

Life 101, folks.


In Mansfield's case it was about the money. In the case of the people who worked for him, it was about the conditions. I'm sure they're well paid. I'm sure they can afford pretty much all they want and need. They're not going to get a big enough increase to make it worth a crappy work environment when they could easily go somewhere else. Especially with their creds.

So often with employees it IS about letting them feel they have a voice and empowering them. They want respect and to feel proud. They don't like to feel that someone got a job they didn't deserve. It undermines why they feel they're working so hard.

Mansfield didn't need the money. He didn't need the job. He was probably tired. They had to make him an offer so ridiculous he couldn't refuse.
Rating: 9 Votes
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Shaun, UK
79 months ago
Steve Jobs was so successful because he was a hard task master. He wasn't your friend or your confident, he was the boss. He would shout and scream, bully people and fire them at the drop of a hat. Tim Cook is learning the hard way that it's tough at the top.
Rating: 9 Votes

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