Former Apple sales exec says Tim Cook is tech 'lightweight'

The cover of The Pomme Company, a book by David Sobotta, who writes about his 20 years at Apple.

(Credit: David Sobotta)

David Sobotta, a former director of Apple's federal sales group, says CEO Tim Cook is afraid of being wrong, lacks leadership skills, and is a "lightweight" when it comes to understanding technology.

Sobotta, who published a Kindle book about his 20-year experience at Apple called "The Pomme Company," gave an interview to Dan Lyons, who is now editor of Readwrite.com.

We haven't heard much about Cook's management style so this is among the first reports. Lyons asked Sobotta what he thought of the recent firing of iOS chief Scott Forstall and retail chief John Brownell, a man Cook had hired. Below are just a couple of snippets of what Sobotta had to say:

Tim will react to the numbers or his fear of being wrong quickly. Fear of being wrong is a managerial trait that runs strong and deep in Apple because of the way Steve ran the company. Even the appearance of being wrong when in the end you might be rig... [Read more]