Apple's CEO Conundrum

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That team is comprised of Jobs; Cook; CFO Peter Oppenheimer; and Phil Schiller, senior vice-president for worldwide product marketing, who's on tap to deliver the high-profile keynote address to developers on June 8. All have worked closely with Jobs for at least a decade, becoming accustomed to his often demanding and mercurial nature. "Each of these are guys who know how to say 'no' to Steve, but by and large they work pretty much in harmony, and they don't move unless everyone is pretty much in agreement," Bajarin says.

A Tried-and-True Combo

Many companies besides Apple are well-managed by teams that include a visionary CEO who leaves day-to-day operations in the hands of a strong No. 2 or team of executives. Comcast (CMCSA) Chief Operating Officer Stephen Burke is widely seen as the day-to-day manager, while CEO Brian Roberts tends to concentrate on strategic issues. At Southwest Airlines, (LUV) founder and longtime CEO Herb Kelleher was the airline's public face and retained his job for two years after disclosing that he was fighting prostate cancer in 1999, while others—including current CEO Gary Kelly and former President Colleen Barrett—constituted the company's operational brain trust.

None of this is to say that Jobs and his board won't reach a point, perhaps even in the near future, when they opt to name a new CEO. "This process has weaned him [Jobs] from having to be so involved in the day-to-day stuff," Bajarin says. "I wouldn't be surprised if he emerges from this with less of a hand on the daily operations so he can concentrate on the big picture."

And if a new CEO is named soon, the most likely candidate remains Cook, many analysts say. "My gut tells me that Tim is probably going to be promoted to CEO and Steve will be chairman and maybe something else, like Chief Innovation Officer or something like that," says Charles Wolf, an analyst at Needham & Co. in New York. "That would be a reasonable path."

Another potential successor to Jobs is Ron Johnson, senior vice-president and head of Apple's retail operations. "If Tim were promoted to CEO, they might lose Johnson," Wolf says. There's also an up-and-coming second generation of managers at Apple. Scott Forstall, senior vice-president and head of the iPhone software division, has been taking an increasingly public role at Apple events. Vice-President Greg Joswiak, known by his nickname "Joz," heads iPhone and iPod marketing. Joswiak is a longtime Apple executive and sports a bit of a Jobs-like swagger when speaking at Apple events.

But for now, Apple is still Jobs' company, and whatever title he holds, he's likely to remain very much in charge for the foreseeable future. In Bajarin's view, Jobs "will surprise everyone" and "come back stronger than ever."

Hesseldahl is a reporter for BusinessWeek.com.

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