01/07/2008, 11:20am, EST
Monday, January 7th
Apple elects Avon exec as 8th board member
Apple today announced that Avon chairman and CEO Andrea Jung was elected to its board of directors. "Andrea is a strong CEO and marketer and we look forward to benefiting from her insights and experience as a member of Apple's board," said Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. "Andrea will be our eighth board member, and I think she will add a new dimension to our already lively board discussions."
Jung also serves on the board of directors for the General Electric Company and is a member of the New York Presbyterian Hospital board of trustees as well as the Catalyst board of directors.
"Apple is clearly one of the most innovative companies in the world today," said Andrea Jung, chairman and chief executive officer of Avon Products. "I feel privileged to join this exciting and dynamic team and look forward to working closely with Steve and the board during the next phase of Apple's growth."
Jung is responsible for developing and executing all of Avon's long-term growth strategies, launching new brand initiatives, developing earnings opportunities for women worldwide, and defining Avon in the beauty products industry.
Jung was elected president of global marketing in 1996, an executive vice president in 1997, president and a director of the company in 1998, chief operating officer from 1998 to 1999, chief executive officer in 1999, and chairman of Avon's board in 2001. Previously Jung was executive vice president of Neiman Marcus and a senior vice president for I. Magnin.
Filed under: Apple
Other story tags: Steve Jobs
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This is a political move by Apple - nothing more nothing less - this is to get those nay-sayers about women in high places at Apple to shut up_ But if they're going to bring a woman on board - might as well grab "the best" someone witha good track record_
Exactly why he's there is beyond me. It certainly doesn't help the Mac get better support from Intuit (although, hey, maybe it's the only way to get any support from Intuit).
And why is the story on iPodNN? Is MacNN trying to boost its view stats?
Does the fact that she is CEO of one of the most successful retail companies in history and is on the board of one of the world's largest corporations (GE, who happens to own NBC/Universal) not matter?
No, Jobs wouldn't hire someone for that reason, it's only because she's a woman and would score political points. Give me a break - that's insulting to Jobs, Jung, and yourself.
BTW, no one said she wasn't qualified. But there's lot's of qualified people out there. (And what do you need to be to be qualified to sit on Apple's board? Rubber-stamp all of Jobs' ideas, hand out stock options to everyone, and be able to meet up every 3 months.