IT News on October 17th: Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman reported today that, according to people familiar with the matter, Apple has hired Scott Tucker, who previously served as the Vice General Counsel and Head of Litigation for Meta.
This personnel change means that Tucker will once again work alongside Jennifer Newstead, Apple's new Chief Legal Officer. Newstead has brought over her trusted deputies from her previous employer Meta.
Insiders say that Tucker will take on the role of Vice President of Global Litigation and Financial Services at Apple. This is a newly established position responsible for overseeing the company's commercial and patent litigation worldwide, as well as handling legal matters related to Apple's financial products.
It is reported that with this appointment in place, Heather Grannier, Apple's current Vice President of Business and Competitive Litigation, will now report to Tucker instead of directly to Neustead. However, Grannier will still remain part of Neustead's core legal leadership team.
In addition to his tenure at Meta, Tucker has previously held senior legal positions at Morgan Stanley. Reports indicate that these experiences are highly relevant to the field of financial services for which he is now responsible. Nysted served as the Chief Legal Officer at Meta for six years and took on the role of General Counsel at Apple Inc. in March of this year.
Meanwhile, another senior member of Apple's legal department, Kyle Andel, who has long been responsible for regulatory and product-related legal affairs, has also seen an expansion of his responsibilities. He will take over international legal affairs and oversee various business areas including child online safety, network security protection, and law enforcement compliance cooperation.
Representatives from Apple and Meta both refused to comment.
The aforementioned personnel adjustments are part of a broader organizational restructure led by Neustaedt. Currently, she oversees Apple's legal and government affairs teams in their entirety. Apple has also recently appointed former American Airlines Group executive Nate Gaten as Vice President of Government Affairs and appointed new heads of government affairs in several overseas regions.
After Lisa Jackson, who was in charge of environmental, policy, and social initiatives, and Kate Adams, the former Chief Legal Officer, retired one after another, Apple integrated its legal team and government affairs team under Neustead's leadership. Currently, Tim Cook, who has been promoted to Executive Chairman of the company, also plays a core leadership role in government affairs.
Currently, Apple is embroiled in multiple legal battles, including a major antitrust lawsuit initiated by the U.S. Department of Justice, a long-standing dispute with Epic Games regarding the restriction of App Store, as well as lawsuits related to user privacy and the delayed delivery of Siri features.
Reports indicate that in recent years, the total amount of compensation and settlements Apple has been forced to pay has reached several billion dollars. Regulatory authorities in Europe and the United States have also launched a series of investigations and pressured Apple regarding its core business practices that support its business model. Some Apple executives believe that the company's performance in court litigation has not met expectations, especially in the litigation related to App Store.
These legal setbacks have forced Apple to adjust its commission split ratios and the terms under which it charges developers, which has also cast a shadow over the service business, which has been a core driver of Apple's growth in recent years, with a noticeable slowdown in its growth rate. Reports indicate that the hinderance to the growth of its service business will have a significant impact on Apple's overall financial performance.
Even during normal times, managing Apple's extensive litigation affairs is an extremely challenging task. This technology giant, headquartered in Cupertino, California, is one of the companies that faces the most lawsuits globally, with a wide range of cases ranging from claims for injuries caused by customers slipping in retail stores to major antitrust disputes involving billions of dollars in compensation.
In recent weeks, the newly appointed CEO Tenuis has led a series of bold reorganizations of senior management, including appointing new heads for App Store, major launch events, as well as company functional departments such as information security and real estate. This round of personnel reshuffles also involved the departure of the long-serving head of Apple Pay, the replacement of the company's mergers and acquisitions supervisor, and significant adjustments to the structure of the hardware engineering department.
