In an effort to make the Apple chief executive his own, Tim Cook is making a few changes -- some of which Steve Jobs wouldn't like.
The changes seem relatively small: Apple matching employee nonprofit contributions and exploring a stock dividend or buyback, but are both actions that Jobs reportedly disliked, according to the Washington Post. Apparently Jobs did give money to charity but opposed Apple matching charitable donations. In essence, he didn't like to give money away.
The report also suggested that Cook may be considering using Apple’s huge stockpile of cash (over $80 billion) for dividends or a stock buyback, two options that Jobs had eschewed in the past.
For many, distributing Apple's stockpile of cash is a big deal, but Cook is supposed to be a logistics guy, not a "product guy" like Jobs, so most of his focus has been on how the company operates. Giving shareholders a dividend usually increases confidence and stock price. A stock buyback, where Apple would repurchase shares from shareholders, is also seen as investing back into the company. Both alternatives can be a positive for the tech giant, but Jobs liked neither option in the past.
Cook's most obvious change has been in promoting veteran Appler Eddy Cue to senior vice president of Internet software and services, but Cook has yet to name his second-in-command -- which is kind of odd for a logistics guy.
