Levinson named Apple chairman, Iger joins board

SAN FRANCISCO – Agence France-Presse

Arthur Levinson. AP photo

Genentech chairman Arthur Levinson was named Tuesday to replace the late Steve Jobs as chairman of Apple's board of directors and Disney chief executive Bob Iger joined the board.

The appointments are the first since Apple co-founder Jobs died of cancer on October 5 and were announced by Tim Cook, who replaced Jobs as chief executive of the company behind the Macintosh, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad.

"Art has made enormous contributions to Apple since he joined the board in 2000," Cook said. "He has been our longest serving co-lead director, and his insight and leadership are incredibly valuable to Apple, our employees and our shareholders."

Cook said Iger, who engineered Disney's 2006 purchase of the Pixar animation studio from Jobs, "is going to make an extraordinary addition to our already very strong board."

In a statement, Levinson, who will remain as chair of the biotech firm while he is non-executive chairman at Apple, said he was "honored to be named chairman of Apple's board and welcome Bob to our team.

"Apple is always focused on out-innovating itself through the delivery of truly innovative products that simplify and improve our lives, and that is something I am very proud to be a part of," he said.

Iger said Apple "has achieved unprecedented success by consistently creating high quality, truly innovative products, and I am extremely pleased to join the board of such a wonderful company.

"Over the years, I have come to know and admire the management team, now ably led by Tim Cook, and I am confident they have the leadership and vision to ensure Apple's continued momentum and success," he said