A History of Apple’s Organizational Structure | The Org

The Team That Launched the iPhone

2007 marked a new chapter, if not a whole new book, for Apple: the iPhone came to life.

At the time, Apple had an executive team of six members, including Jobs. At his side were Phil Schiller, Eddy Cue, Jony Ive, Tony Fadell and Scott Forstall. Fast forward to today, and that executive team is 17.
Schiller and Cue are the only two of the team that remain at the company. Schiller, an Apple Fellow, is currently responsible for leading the App Store and Apple Events.

For the past 30 years, Schiller has helped guide Apple’s products and marketing and was responsible for the iPod’s beloved click wheel.
Cue, who joined the company in 1989, is now SVP, Internet Software and Services and reports directly to CEO Tim Cook. He oversees the company’s content stores, including iTunes Store and Apple Music, and Apple Pay, Maps, Search Ads, Apple’s iCloud services, and productivity and creativity apps.

Ive, who was one of Apple’s longest standing and highest-ranking designers, left the company in 2019. Fadell, one of the visionaries behind the iPod and iTunes, left the company in 2018 citing personal reasons. And Forstall, who was once touted to be Jobs’ replacement as CEO, left in 2013 after the unsuccessful launch of Apple Maps.

However, Cook, Schiller and Cue aren’t the only longstanding leaders at the company; Greg “Joz” Joswiak, SVP, Worldwide Marketing, started his career at Apple in 1986 and has played a pivotal role in developing and launching some of the company’s most iconic products.

Deirdre O’Brien joined in 1988, and is now Apple’s SVP, Retail and People, reporting to CEO Tim Cook. In her role leading the People team, O’Brien helps Apple connect, develop and care for its employees, and is responsible for a range of people focused functions.

In 1995, Sabih Khan, current SVP, Operations, came onboard, then in 1998, now-Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams started with the company.

SVP, Hardware Engineering John Ternus came to Apple in 2001 as a member of the Product Design team. Then in 2008, now SVP, Hardware Technologies Johny Srouji came onboard. The other two current execs who were at Apple before Cook took over are Isabel Ge Mahe, VP and Managing Director of Greater China, who joined in 2008, and Adrian Perica, VP, Corporate Development, who came onboard in 2009.

All in all, more than two-thirds of Apple’s current executive team have been with the company for more than a decade, with four having been there for more than three decades. Due to the functional organization of the company, employees are encouraged to develop good working relationships and rise through the ranks as they grow in expertise — leading to the celebration of lots of employee anniversaries.