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????上周，史蒂夫?喬布斯宣布將CEO職務交由蒂姆?庫克接管。圍繞他的這一決定，最讓人不解的是時機的選擇。 ????近幾天，大部分評論都認為喬布斯肯定已經病入膏肓——這從他辭職信的措辭中可窺一斑。但跟一周前或一個月前相比，他的病情真的出現了明顯的惡化嗎？很明顯，他還不到病危的地步。因為在過去兩天，他大部分時間都呆在蘋果公司（Apple）的總部。 ????《舊金山觀察家報》（San Francisco Examiner）專欄作家約翰?德沃夏克在他的專欄“第二種看法”（Second Opinion）中給出了更易理解、更合邏輯的解釋。約翰?德沃夏克喜歡唱反調，1984年，他曾聲稱，未來沒有人會愿意用鼠標來控制電腦。2007年，他又警告蘋果要盡快“關閉”iPhone業務，否則將悔之莫及。 ????他寫道：“原因就在于蒂姆?庫克。”文章摘要如下： ????眾所周知，硅谷每家企業都希望聘請到庫克。而對于庫克而言，既然公司運營由他主持，那么代理CEO的頭銜實際上已經不合時宜了。 ????數月以來，喬布斯一直都在休假。事實上，除了頭銜本身，宣布CEO職務交接不會帶來任何改變，這一點不容忽視。 ????蘋果公司認為應該盡快讓庫克接任CEO。因為，萬一庫克對代理CEO的頭銜感到厭煩怎么辦？蘋果不能冒這個險。更重要的是，對于庫克而言，如果在擔任代理CEO期間喬布斯不幸身亡，所產生的后果可能是他無法承受的。 ????因為按慣例，在公司董事會主席或創始人去世后，現任CEO將繼續留任；而作為代理CEO，在董事會主席或創始人或現任CEO發生意外后，只有在競選中勝出，才能正式擔任CEO。也就是說，如果喬布斯發生意外，庫克可能無法自動“轉正”。 ????換句話說，庫克也許會受到排擠而無法接任CEO職位。比如有居心叵測的人會跳出來說：“沒錯，他是代理CEO，讓他接任之前，我們還是再考慮一下，說不定還有更合適的人選。” ????正如美國市場研究公司Investor Village旗下AAPL Sanity的一位評論員寫道，瞎貓也能碰到死耗子！（如果不及時將庫克扶正，CEO職位被他人攫取也并非絕無可能。） ????最新消息：上周三，蘋果公司向美國證券交易委員會（SEC）提交了Form 8-K表格文件，為喬布斯的辭職事宜備案，其中包括以下條款： ????“董事會任命庫克先生擔任蘋果公司首席執行官，并贈予庫克先生1,000,000股受限股。其中一半受限股將于2016年8月24日兌現，另一半則于2021年8月24日兌現。但前提條件是，在兌現日期之前，庫克先生必須一直為公司服務。” ????翻譯：劉進龍/汪皓 |
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????One of the mysteries surrounding Steve Jobs' decision to hand the CEO title over to Tim Cook is its timing. ????The assumption underlying most of the commentary these past two days is that Jobs must be really really sick -- which is understandable given the wording of his letter of resignation. But is he that much sicker this week than he was last week? Or last month? He's clearly not on his deathbed. By several accounts he spent much of the past two days at Apple (AAPL) headquarters. ????In his "Second Opinion" column for the San Francisco Examiner, John Dvorak -- a man whose penchant for contrariness led him to suggest in 1984 that nobody would want to use a mouse to control a computer and in 2007 that Apple "pull the plug" on the iPhone before it's too late -- offers a simpler, more logical explanation. ????"The reason," he wrote, "is Tim Cook." The key paragraphs: ????Everyone in Silicon Valley would love to hire this guy, and from his perspective, his title as "acting" chief executive gets old fast when you are actually running the company. ????Jobs has been on extended leave for months, so what's going to change with this announcement? Nothing, that's what — except the title itself. And this is what is important. ????Giving up the CEO title to Cook had to be done sooner than later. The company cannot take a chance that Cook might get be tired of being jerked around. More importantly, from Cook's perspective, he cannot afford to be the acting chief executive if Jobs actually dies while he is acting chief. ????The way these companies operate, they will keep a CEO if he or she is the actual CEO and the chairman/founder dies. If he or she is the acting CEO when the chairman/founder/CEO dies, then the job is up for grabs. Cook would not automatically become the CEO. ????In other words, Cook may get screwed out of the top spot when the weasels come out of the woodwork. "Yes, he's the acting CEO, but let's just look around before we give him the job — just in case. ????As one of the commentators on Investor Village's AAPL Sanity board wrote, even a broken clock is right twice a day. ????UPDATE: The Form 8-K that Apple filed with the SEC Wednesday to register Jobs' resignation includes this provision: ????"In connection with Mr. Cook's appointment as Chief Executive Officer, the Board awarded Mr. Cook 1,000,000 restricted stock units. Fifty percent of the restricted stock units are scheduled to vest on each of August 24, 2016 and August 24, 2021, subject to Mr. Cook's continued employment with Apple through each such date." |
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