GreenBkk.com Tech | Meet Apple's all-stars

Meet Apple's all-stars

Apple stars like Tim Cook, Jony Ive and Phil Schiller are well known, even beyond Silicon Valley. Here's a "who's who" of the rest of Apple's talented executive bench.

Craig Federighi

Senior Vice President, Software Engineering

Federighi's relationship with Apple goes back to 1996; he was a NeXT employee when Apple acquired that company as part of its reunification with Steve Jobs. After leaving in 1999, he returned a decade later to focus exclusively on the Mac OS X operating system, a role that was expanded when he replaced long-time veteran Bertrand Serlet earlier this year.

The move comes during an important transition for OS X: Lion, the latest update, promises new features that will bring the desktop and laptop software closer in line with Apple's iOS mobile operating system.

By J.P. Mangalindan, writer-reporter

Ron Johnson

Senior Vice President, Retail

With more than 300 stores around the world, visitors take the Apple retail experience for granted. But back in 2000, the Apple store layout was downright radical: rather than organizing simply by product, Apple broke up store areas based on consumer interactions. A lot of that is thanks to Johnson, a former Target executive, who also pushed for the now-signature Genius Bar, an idea Steve Jobs initially wasn't keen on.

Bob Mansfield

Senior Vice President, Mac Hardware Engineering

Mansfield joined the company when Apple scooped up his then-employer, Raycer Graphics, in 1999. Now Senior Vice President of Mac Hardware Engineering, he oversees the groups behind many of the company's most popular devices, like the MacBook Air and iMac. More recently, he was also put in charge of iPhone and iPod engineering when executive Mark Papermaster left last fall amid the iPhone 4 antenna controversy.

Scott Forstall

Senior Vice President, in charge of iOS software

Like Federighi, Forstall was one of several NeXT employees to join Apple in the mid-1990s. Early on, he became a guiding force on OS X and is credited for several releases, but it was his success managing the team that handled OS X Leopard that led to his current role with the ongoing development of iOS, which now powers more than 160 million iPhones, iPads, and iPods worldwide.

"Forstall is the man if SJ gets to pick [his successor]," 9 to 5 Mac writer Cleve Nettles said back in 2008.

Peter Oppenheimer

Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer

As CFO, Oppenheimer's influence reaches far and wide -- he's a member of the company's executive committee and wields control over the treasury, corporate development, and human resources among other areas. As a regular fixture on quarterly earnings calls, he also reports the latest financials to analysts and media, weighing in on company performance and offering guidance on where revenues and profits are likely headed.

Bruce Sewell

Senior Vice President, General Counsel

One of the most recent additions to the executive bench, Sewell joined in 2009 after serving more than a decade at Intel. As Apple continues to innovate on multiple fronts, Sewell's role becomes increasingly important in defending the company and preserving its intellectual property, whether it's a lost iPhone prototype or a patent lawsuit.

Jeff Williams

Senior Vice President, Operations

A former IBM employee, Williams reports to COO Tim Cook and is largely responsible for managing the product parts supply chain and making sure all products, from that new MacBook Air to the iPad 2, pass the company's strict quality control standards.

Eddy Cue

Vice President, Internet Services

Cue isn't one to often make appearances, so when he shared the stage earlier this year with Rupert Murdoch to launch The Daily, an iPad publication, people took notice. As VP of Internet Services, he manages iTunes and the App Store, two of the company's most important properties, along with iBooks, Apple's e-books foray. It's a far cry from his start with Apple in 1989, working as a junior desktop support staffer.

Katie Cotton

Vice President, Worldwide corporate communications

Where ever Jobs is, Cotton isn't far away. As his gatekeeper, it's Cotton the media contends with for anything Jobs-related -- interviews, questions about his health -- and it's Cotton again who contributes to product launches and reportedly, the upkeep of Apple and its CEO's appealing, yet enigmatic image, making her one of the most powerful women in Silicon Valley.

Dr. Guy (Bud) Tribble

Vice President, Software Tech

Tribble and Apple go way back. A college undergrad, he led development of the operating system for the first Macintosh in the early 1980s. Eventually, he followed Jobs to NeXT where he ran software development, served time as Sun Microsystems' chief technology officer, and earned a medical degree. Apple credits Tribble's ongoing role with helping define the software engineering group's technical direction, but insiders also single him out as the company's unofficial CTO.

Greg Joswiak

Vice President, Marketing

Joswiak manages promotion of the iPhone and iPod, but he also plays an active role in their development, working with the company's engineering teams to design the next wave of devices, down to features and price. In fact it was Joswiak, in his previous role marketing general hardware, who pushed for the 14-inch iBook despite Jobs' reported reluctance.

Credit: CNN (www.cnn.com)