Apple loses third executive in two months

In my opinion, none of these departures should come as a surprise, much less be seen as casting a negative shadow over Apple or its ability to retain top talent and high potential senior executives. These are all people who have climbed the ladder throughout their careers and still have more career remaining. There comes a time when they’ve been within the same organization for long enough to realize that the next rung, or perhaps the top rung, at their current employer isn’t going to come anytime soon. Time to move on.

People leave for any number of reasons; better opportunity, more upside potential, more stability, big financial payday, less chaos, change of scenery, family (cough cough), better culture, etc. Occasionally, even people at this level get the message that their time at the company has come to an end – for any number of reasons. Sometimes it’s a push to make room for an up and coming talent. Everyone is replaceable and it’s not like Apple doesn’t have a plan in place to handle departures at this level. Their departure may have been in-process well before any public announcements and suitably transitioned replacements waiting in the wings to step right in.

This is all very normal in a healthy organization like Apple. There’s always a certain level of inflow and a certain level of outflow. Not everyone is going to be the top dog at Apple. The good thing is that having Apple leadership experience on your resume opens a lot of doors. In no way are these departures indicative of rats abandoning a sinking ship. 

Apple is in great shape and in very good hands, especially at the top.