High salary but no work required, how Tim Cook retains talent

Six weeks after Tim Cook took over as CEO, Bob Mansfield, a key member of Apple's hardware engineering team, wanted to leave the company. Tim Cook was worried that this would upset shareholders. He convinced Mansfield to stay on for a while with the promise of a huge bonus. Mansfield agreed to stay and did little else until he took over the Apple Car project.

In 2015, Cook used this tactic again when he wanted to leave designer Jony Ive. After some convincing from Cook, Jony Ive agreed to stay on for a higher salary and only work 1-2 days a week. By 2019, Ive had left to start his own company, but Apple had spent years reassuring the public that Ive was still involved and putting a lot of effort into their business.

Vice President of Marketing Phil Schiller was also convinced to stay on to manage the App Store using a similar approach.

Gurman claims that Apple has continued this tactic for nearly 13 years after Jobs's death. The most recent example is CFO Luca Maestri, who was scheduled to leave the position next year but was persuaded to stay on to take on a number of roles, including advising Tim Cook.

Marvin Fry

Update 04 September 2024