Apple Retail Vice President Jerry McDougal Departs

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Left in order to spend more time with family.

Apple's recent woes continue as the company's retail vice president, Jerry McDougal, has left his position.

McDougal, who was a candidate to lead the company's chain of retail stores, said his farewells to his colleagues last week. He reportedly left the company to spend more time with family and not for work-related reasons.

Apple confirmed that Jim Bean, a vice president in the company's financial division, will take over the vacant position.

"Retail has an incredibly strong network of leaders at the store and regional level, and they will continue the excellent work they've done over the past decade to revolutionize retailing with unique, innovative services and a focus on the customer that is second to none," said Apple spokesman Steve Dowling.

"Jim Bean is moving to Retail to help support our store teams. Jim has been at Apple for 15 years and is a great leader who understands our culture and focus on customer service."

Apple, which has seen its stock recently drop to an 11-month low, is still searching for a new retail head after John Browett was dismissed in October after less than a year in his position.

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Zak Islam
14 Comments Comment from the forums
  • house70
    "reportedly left the company to spend more time with family and not for work-related reasons."

    "Spending more time with the family" means "work-related reasons" in P.C. language.
    Reply
  • steve360
    Slowly Apple is turning back into the Apple of the 80s and 90s when Steve Jobs was in exile.
    Reply
  • john_e
    He probably knows Apple is going under and decided to cash all his stocks and leave.
    Reply
  • bllue
    steve360Slowly Apple is turning back into the Apple of the 80s and 90s when Steve Jobs was in exile.It's for the best.
    Reply
  • alvine
    how much money do you have to make to quit your job for family? yes family is important but you need some source of income to support it
    Reply
  • TeraMedia
    When people talked about "bean counters", I never thought they were talking about a literal guy. And he's from Finance, no less!

    @house70: Typically, "spending more time with the family" really does mean just that. When someone is forced out for incompetence but not outright fired (with cause), they usually describe it as "pursuing other opportunities". The reason is simple: If he's forced out but is purportedly trying to spend more time with his family, then things get awkward if he starts looking for another job. The messaging alone could put the company at risk of a lawsuit because of a damaged reputation or whatnot.
    Reply
  • MKBL
    He wants to sell his stock/options before its value go down further. When you are a high-position insider, there is restriction on sale of your stock/options. You have to leave the company to sell them before the stock price deep down.
    Reply
  • TeraMedia
    @MKBL: Wrong. If he has insider information, then leaving the company does not suddenly allow him to sell with impugnity. Just ask Martha Stewart how that worked out for her when she sold as an "outsider" with insider info.

    Executive insiders can sell - they merely have to do what's called a "planned sale". Basically, they announce an intention to sell at a future date in time - or even a pattern of dates. That future date is selected based upon when all currently-known insider info is expected to be either public or no longer material. They can even put rules on it, such as "Only sell when the price goes below X or above Y."
    Reply
  • MKBL
    After certain period once he left the company- three month I presume-, he can sell all at once, without such hassles. If he bet on the projection that Apple is going down in the near future and he wanted to rake in certain profit before that would happen, the best thing he could do is to leave the company now, and sell the stock the first day that he can sell without restriction. That's not insider trading.
    Reply
  • blakbird24
    Now people are heading for the lifeboats before the iTanic goes down?

    Kidding. That's a bit extreme.

    If you've read my posts before, you know i'm no Apple-lover. But be realistic, Apple stock is not going to tank. Yes it has dropped significantly, but it's only the market correcting for what was a ridiculously over-valued stock to begin with. It's going to fall further before year's end, but it's still going to be a very valuable stock. Despite that, you probably don't want to be in this stock right now, because regardless of whether it nose dives or not, it's not going back up much, that's for sure.

    It is hilarious to read up on hysterical investors on investing forums screaming at how this is all bullshit and it's a conspiracy to destroy Apple and so forth. Check out Rocco Pendola's pieces over at TheStreet...he posts multiple whiney articles every single day about how much of a travesty it is that Apple's stock is falling, and how Apple still "has no competition". There are some seriously deluded individuals out there.
    Reply