Indiana Native Bolts Burberry For Apple
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA New Palestine native and Ball State University graduate is joining the executive team of one of the world's most high-profile companies. Angela Ahrendts has been named to the newly-created position of senior vice president at Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) and will report to Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook. She had been the CEO of British fashion company Burberry Group plc. October 15, 2013
News Release
CUPERTINO, Cal. – Apple today announced that Angela Ahrendts, CEO of Burberry, will be joining Apple in a newly created position, as a senior vice president and member of our executive team, reporting to CEO Tim Cook.
Ahrendts will have oversight of the strategic direction, expansion and operation of both Apple retail and online stores, which have redefined the shopping experience for hundreds of millions of customers around the world. Apple retail stores set the standard for customer service with innovative features like the Genius Bar, Personal Setup and One to One personal training to help customers get the most out of their Apple products.
“I am thrilled that Angela will be joining our team,” said Cook. “She shares our values and our focus on innovation, and she places the same strong emphasis as we do on the customer experience. She has shown herself to be an extraordinary leader throughout her career and has a proven track record.”
“I am profoundly honored to join Apple in this newly created position next year, and very much look forward to working with the global teams to further enrich the consumer experience on and offline,” said Ahrendts. “I have always admired the innovation and impact Apple products and services have on people’s lives and hope in some small way I can help contribute to the company’s continued success and leadership in changing the world.”
Ahrendts will join Apple in the spring from Burberry, where she serves as CEO and has led the company through a period of outstanding global growth. Prior to Burberry, she was executive vice president at Liz Claiborne Inc., and earlier in her career she served as president of Donna Karan International.
Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.
Source: Apple Inc.
October 14, 2013
News Release
LONDON, England- Burberry today announces that Angela Ahrendts will step down as Chief Executive Officer by mid-2014 to take up a new position with Apple. Christopher Bailey is to be appointed to the position of Chief Creative and Chief Executive Officer. This follows nearly a decade during which Angela, Christopher and the senior executive team have transformed Burberry into a world leading digital luxury brand.
Christopher has been at Burberry since 2001 and Chief Creative Officer for the past six years. He has overseen all consumer-facing activities, including product design and development, creative marketing, store design, consumer technology and digital innovation. In line with other great creative companies, Christopher will continue to create and drive the vision for the company closely supported by an outstanding and experienced team and strong partners. To assure a seamless transition, Christopher and Angela will continue to work closely over the coming months. He will be joining the Board in due course.
Christopher Bailey commented:
“I am profoundly moved and humbled to be asked to take on the CEO role at this company that means so much to me. I also feel privileged to be keeping my role as Chief Creative Officer, as I believe that creativity and innovation have been at the heart of our success in the last ten years and will be even more so in the decade ahead. We have a clear strategy to build on, an increasingly powerful brand and an inspiring management team. Together, we will continue to push the boundaries of design, technology and communication while never forgetting our heritage, our Britishness and our values.
It has been my privilege to work with people right across the company over the last ten years, and whilst I am sad no longer to have the inspirational leadership of Angela, who has been an absolute joy to work with, I feel more than confident that part of her legacy is an enormously strong team in all of our areas.”
Angela Ahrendts said:
“Burberry is in brilliant shape, having built the industry's most powerful management team, converted the business to a dynamic digital global retailer, created a world class supply chain, state of the art technology infrastructure, sensational brand momentum and one of the most closely connected creative cultures in the world today. It has been an honour to have partnered with Sir John Peace and Christopher for the last eight years.
I am confident that, with Sir John's continued guidance and the executive team's support, Christopher, as one of this generation’s greatest visionaries, will continue to lead Burberry to new heights. Today, Burberry is not only a great brand, but a truly great company.”
Sir John Peace, Chairman of Burberry, commented:
“I want to thank Angela personally for building a great culture and leading the company through the incredible transformation over the last eight years. This CEO transition is a natural progression and comes as Burberry reports yet another strong first half revenue performance. The new Beauty division is fully embedded and the Japan integration is well underway. I have no doubt that Christopher’s vision and leadership, with the excellent management team in place, will keep Burberry on the forefront creatively, digitally and financially, creating further value for shareholders in the next exciting stage of our evolution.”
Source: Burberry Group PLC