Apple board members will stand for re-election, despite age limits ↦

As reported by Eric Slivka at MacRumors, both Apple’s Chairman of the Board Arthur Levinson and board member Ronald Sugar are standing for re-election at this year’s shareholder meeting, despite exceeding the company’s stated age limits.

In the company’s proxy statement, it presented the following arguments:

Over the past four years, the Board has added three new members, representing over one-third of its membership, and two other, long-serving members retired. In the context of this year’s Annual Meeting nominations, the Board determined that it would be in the best interests of Apple and its shareholders to ask Art Levinson, the Chair of the Board, and Ron Sugar, the Chair of the Audit Committee, to stand for re-election, and to waive for each of them its guideline under which directors generally may not stand for re-election after attaining age 75. In making this determination, the Board considered several factors, including the significant experience and expertise that each of Dr. Levinson and Dr. Sugar brings to the Board, their deep insight into the Company’s business and operations, and their individual contributions as highly engaged members of the Board. The Board also considered the benefits of continuity among the Board’s leadership positions.

I admit, I found this decision surprising, if not shocking. It would seem to put paid to the idea of Tim Cook imminently taking over the role of chairman, though it does support the idea that will happen sooner rather than later—otherwise it seems as though the company would have considered nominating an entirely new chairperson. As it is, the composition of the board remains exactly the same.

However, it doesn’t mean that the company won’t announce transition plans in the near future, as rumors have suggested. It’s most likely it simply wasn’t ready to do so at the point at which it needed to submit this document to the SEC. The New York Times just ran a profile of John Ternus, which further elevates his profile as Cook’s successor, especially in the nearer term.

Ultimately, the move to stay the course is a conservative one from a company that these days has become more conservative when it comes to matters of corporate governance.

Go to the linked site.

Read on Six Colors.