1997年，史蒂夫•乔布斯重返苹果（Apple）。当年他最先处理的事情之一，就是解散公司董事会，任命与自己投契的人担任董事，其中就包括基因泰克公司（Genentech）当时的首席执行官亚瑟•莱文森。

    根据沃尔特•艾萨克森所著《乔布斯传》（Steve Jobs）：“乔布斯并没有向董事会移交任何实质权力。实际上，他只是通过董事会会议的讨论来激发灵感，自行思索公司战略。”

    苹果联合创始人乔布斯逝世后，蒂姆•库克担任首席执行官，而莱文森也升任公司董事长，这也是乔布斯生前担任的最后一个职位。莱文森是否会坚决主张董事的权力，尽管公司董事会在乔布斯是到从未行使过这些权力。

    苹果公司周二举办了新闻发布会，对媒体通报了莱文森的简单背景信息。

    莱文森拥有华盛顿大学（University of Washington）理学士学位和普林斯顿大学（Princeton）博士学位。他1980年加入基因泰克公司担任研究科学家；1995至2009年担任基因泰克首席执行官；2010年以来担任该公司董事长。他曾经单独或与他人合作发表了80篇科学论文，拥有11项美国专利权。他拥有相当多董事会和顾问委员会的头衔，其中包括麻省理工学院-哈佛博德研究所（the Broad Institute of MIT）以及史隆基达宁癌症中心（the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center）。

    他的维基百科条目也提供了一些个人信息。

    莱文森现年61岁，与太太结婚33年，育有两个孩子。他曾被《商业周刊》（BusinessWeek）评为2004年和2005年年度最佳经理人，还曾连续四年被《机构投资者》（Institutional Investor）评为生物科技领域“全美最佳首席执行官”。在Glassdoor.com网站评选中，他还以93%的支持率当选2008年“最友善”的首席执行官。

    然而，只有透过艾萨克森的著作，我们才更深入地了解了他在苹果所发挥的作用，以及他与史蒂夫这位强势的首席执行官之间的关系。

    • 莱文森对艾萨克森说，乔布斯告诉董事会他打算开设苹果零售店时，“这真让我挠头，我觉得这种想法很疯狂。我们是一家小公司，是行业里的‘边缘成员’。我说我不确定我会支持这个计划。”

    • 决定将Mac系统向英特尔架构转换时，“我们争论过，提出了很多问题。最终我们达成了一致，决定采取行动。”

    One of the first things Steve Jobs did when he returned Apple (AAPL) in 1997 was dismiss the company's board and appoint directors more to his liking, including Genentech CEO Arthur D. Levinson.

    "Jobs did not cede any real power to his board," according to Walter Isaacson's Steve Jobs. "But he did use its meetings to kick around ideas and think through strategies in confidence."

    With Jobs gone and Tim Cook as CEO, Levinson has been elevated to chairman of the board -- the last position Jobs held before he died. Is Levinson the kind of chairman who will insist on powers that the board never had under the company's co-founder?

    Apple's press release Tuesday offers a bare-bones summary of his background:

    B.S. University of Washington, Ph.D. Princeton. Joined Genentech as a research scientist in 1980, served as CEO 1995-2009, chairman of the board from 2010 on. Author or co-author of 80 scientific papers, named as inventor on 11 U.S. patents. Serves on numerous boards and advisory committees, from the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

    His Wikipedia entry offers some personal detail and color.

    He's 61 years old, the father of two, married to the same woman for 33 years. Named one of the best managers of the year in 2004 and 2005 by BusinessWeek. Named "America's Best CEO" in biotech for four years in a row by Institutional Investor. Rated the "nicest" CEO of 2008 with a 93% approval rating by Glassdoor.com.

    But we get the closest look at the role he played at Apple -- and his relationship with its powerful CEO -- through Isaacson's biography.

    • When Jobs told the board about his plans to build the Apple Stores: "I'm scratching my head and thinking this is crazy," Levinson told Isaacson. "We are a small company, a marginal player. I said I'm not sure I can support something like this."

    • On the decision to move the Mac to the Intel architecture: "We debated it, we asked a lot of questions, and finally we all decided it needed to be done."

    • 乔布斯把自己罹患癌症并决定尝试替代疗法的事情告诉了莱文森。他也是最早得知此事的人之一。根据艾萨克森的描述，莱文森“每天都恳求他”。争吵几乎毁掉了他们之间的友情。他对乔布斯说：“你不做手术光吃这些乱七八糟的药是不可能解决问题的。这不符合癌症发展的规律。”

    • 关于为何乔布斯等了九个月才做手术，他说：“我认为史蒂夫有一种很强烈的渴望，他希望这个世界能够按他自己的愿望发展。但有时候这没用，现实很残酷。”

    • 关于乔布斯为何决定生产手机，他说：“乔布斯经常苦苦思索哪些产品可能让我们公司陷入困境。”乔布斯得到的结论就是：“抢我们饭碗的可能是手机。人人都会随时携带手机，这会使iPod显得有些多余。”

    • 莱文森是力促乔布斯同意外部开发商参与iPhone项目的人之一。他说：“我跟他打了六七次电话来游说他，跟他谈应用软件的潜力。”他说，如果苹果不支持外部开放商，总会有其他的智能手机厂商会这么做。

    • 乔布斯所做的让步就是允许外部开发商来编写应用程序，但程序首先要经过苹果的测试和许可。莱文森称：“这绝对是神来之笔。既能让苹果受益于思想的开放性，同时又能保证端到端的控制。”

    • 乔布斯要求流行科技网志Gizmodo归还苹果遗失的iPhone4原型机。“他会凭本能做出反应。这里边有一种傲慢情结，深深植根于乔布斯的个性中。”莱文森称，这种傲慢在苹果处于劣势地位时还好，但当苹果在手机市场已经占据主导地位时就不行了。他说：“我们需要向大型公司转型，同时解决自身的傲慢问题。”

    • 乔布斯迟迟不愿针对用户抱怨iPhone4天线的问题作出回应。乔布斯当时正在夏威夷，但他与莱文森通过电话保持着“经常性的联络”。莱文森劝他要稍微谦虚一点：“让我们试着弄清楚到底是哪里出了问题。”

    • 根据艾萨克森的撰述，在乔布斯参加的最后一次董事会会议上，莱文森也进行了发言，称赞乔布斯在“确保公司平稳转型”方面所做出的努力。

    译者：李玫晓

    • Levinson was one of the first people Jobs told about his cancer and his decision to try alternative therapies. Levinson "pleaded every day" with him, according to Isaacson. The fights almost ruined their friendship. "You cannot solve this without surgery and blasting it with toxic chemicals," he told Jobs. "That's not how cancer works."

    • On why Jobs waited 9 months to have surgery. "I think Steve has such a strong desire for the world to be a certain way that he wills it to be that way. Sometimes it doesn't work. Reality is unforgiving."

    • On why Jobs decided to build a cell phone. "He was always obsessing about what could mess us up." The conclusion Jobs had come to: "The device that can eat our lunch is the cell phone. Everyone carries a phone, so that could render the iPod unnecessary."

    • Levinson was among those pushing for Jobs to open the iPhone up to outside developers. "I called him a half dozen times to lobby for the potential of the apps." If Apple didn't encourage them, he argued, another smartphone maker would.

    • On the compromise Jobs hit upon: Allow outsiders to write apps, but require that they first be tested and approved by Apple. "It was an absolutely magical solution that hit the sweet spot," Levinson says. "It gave us the benefits of openness while retaining end-to-end control."

    • On Jobs' decision to go after Gizmodo for buying the stolen iPhone 4: "He can react viscerally... There is an arrogance. It ties into Steve's personality." Such arrogance was fine when Apple was the feisty underdog, he argued, but not when Apple was dominant in the mobile market. "We need to make the transition to being a big company and dealing with the hubris issue."

    • On Jobs' reluctance to respond to complaints about the iPhone 4's antenna. Jobs was in Hawaii at the time, but in "constant contact" by phone with Levinson, who urged a little humility. "Let's try to figure out if there's something wrong."

    • At Jobs' final board meeting, Levinson was one of those who spoke, according to Isaacson, praising Jobs' diligence "in assuring that there was a smooth transition."