Apple PR Chief Katie Cotton announced that she is retiring to spend more time with her children. The company's vice president of worldwide corporate communications has been with Apple for 18 years.
Cotton made a succinct statement about her departure, as quoted by Re/code: "This is hard for me. Apple is a part of my heart and soul."
Cotton, who served under co-founder Steve Jobs and current CEO Tim Cook, guarded Apple's pristine image and was in charge of the company's stringent hold on information. Considered one of the industry's most powerful women, Cotton helped shape the brand's mysterious PR strategy and contributed to its perceived exclusivity.
"Katie has given her all to this company for over 18 years. She has wanted to spend time with her children for some time now. We are really going to miss her," Apple spokesman Steve Dowling confirmed in a statement to Mercury News.
Creative Strategies President Tim Bajarin commented on the departure of Apple's public relations gatekeeper, and how it might affect the tech giant's image.
"Their communications strategy added an element of mystery and aura to Apple Computer itself. Steve (Jobs) was very much behind the concept of the element of surprise. They just thrived on that kind of marketing communications. And she was the keeper of the gate," he said to Mercury News.
Sources of the Apple Insider said that Dowling, along with Natalie Kerris, senior director of corporate communications, might replace Cotton. Both have been with Apple for more than ten years.
Cotton is the latest in a series of Apple executive's departures. Among the most prominent were Human Interface director Greg Christie, who announced his departure in April with an exit scheduled later in the year, and Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer, who stated his plans to leave last March, and will be out of the company by September.
