Bob Mansfield’s bio disappeared from Apple’s executive profiles on Sunday, and nobody knew why.
As it turns out, Mansfield, who was Apple’s Senior Vice President of Technologies, has now been designated as a direct report to CEO Tim Cook.
Mansfield announced his retirement last year, but was tapped in October of last year to lead a new technologies group inside Apple following the ouster of Scott Forstall. In a memo at the time, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that Mansfield agreed to stay on for two years.
“Bob is no longer going to be on Apple’s executive team, but will remain at Apple working on special projects reporting to Tim (Cook),” Apple spokesman Steve Dowling told AllThingsD. It’s unclear why Mansfield was moved to the new position, and there hasn’t been any word from Apple whether a new executive will take his place at the helm of the technologies group.
Mansfield is now the second high-profile Apple employee known to be reporting directly to Cook and working on special projects. The first is Paul Deneve, the former CEO of French fashion house Saint Laurent, who was hired by Apple early this month.
There has been a great deal of speculation as to what the special projects could be, with many commentators suggesting that the work may involve Apple’s rumored smartwatch.
