Disney CEO Iger On Apple Board, Levinson Chairman

Apple Inc, shoring up its board after the death of Silicon Valley legend Steve Jobs, has added Walt Disney Co chief executive Bob Iger as a director, a move that should help propel its media ambitions. Iger’s appointment to the board of directors comes as Apple moves deeper into the media business with its iTunes store - selling music and videos directly to consumers.

And many on Wall Street also expect an attempt to shake-up the fragmented television market. Jobs and Iger had maintained a strong relationship after Disney bought Pixar - which Jobs took over in 1986 - for about $7.4 billion in 2006. Genentech Inc Chairman Arthur Levinson will become chairman, replacing Jobs, who died in October after a years-long struggle with cancer. Levinson had been a co-lead Apple director since 2005, alongside Avon Products Inc’s Andrea Jung.

Analysts have said Jobs absence would trigger major changes for the board, elevating them beyond being merely advisors to a visionary leader. The board may have to take more control, be less deferential to new CEO Tim Cook than it was to Jobs and meet more often, they said. Some have raised concerns about how Jobs managed to keep his board in the dark about his health, which was a topic of constant speculation in the years before his death.

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In Walter Isaacson’s best-selling biography of the Silicon Valley icon, it was revealed the charismatic Jobs had sometimes lied about his condition. Disney’s corporate empire encompasses TV network ABC, sports cable channel ESPN, movie and animation studios and theme parks and resorts.