Angela Ahrendts, the head of Apple’s retail operationsIlya S. Savenok/Getty Images for Fast Company
- Angela Ahrendts currently serves as Apple’s head of retail.
- She didn’t take a typical path into the tech world — her last role was as CEO of Burberry.
- But Ahrendts is now the highest-paid executive at Apple, earning almost double what CEO Tim Cook makes.
- Here’s how she rose from a small town in Indiana to an executive position at Apple.
Angela Ahrendts may not have taken a typical path into the tech world, but she’s quickly become one of the most important and highest-paid executives at Apple.
Ahrendts joined Apple in 2014 as its head of retail, filling a position that had been vacant for more than a year. At the time, the tech world was surprised. Ahrendts didn’t have a background in tech and previously had been her own boss; she joined Apple from British fashion house Burberry, where she had served as CEO for eight years.
But Apple obviously appreciates her. Four years after she joined, Ahrendts gets almost double the compensation of Apple CEO Tim Cook. She’s also the only female senior executive at the iPhone maker.
Here’s how Ahrendts rose from her origins in a small town outside Indianapolis to becoming an executive at the most valuable company in the world.
Ahrendts grew up in New Palestine, Indiana.
Ahrendts was one of six kids in her family. She was a cheerleader in high school and played tennis and volleyball. She also did gymnastics.
Ahrendts’ athletic prowess may in part be due to her height — she’s just under six feet tall.
Source: The Indianapolis Star
As a kid, Ahrendts sewed her own clothes and dreamed of joining the fashion industry.
“It was always fashion. If you read my high school yearbook, I was [someone] who at 16 knew exactly what I was going to do,” she told The Guardian.
Source: The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian
During her tenure at Burberry, Ahrendts pushed the company to adopt new technologies.
Under her leadership, Burberry embraced ecommerce and updated its in-store technology. It also launched new product lines, and the company’s retail operations expanded into new markets.
Source: Business of Fashion
Ahrendts met her husband, Gregg Couch, in elementary school; they’ve now been together for 40 years.
The couple had a 17-year long-distance relationship while Ahrendts was living in Manhattan and working 80 hours a week. Couch eventually moved to New York, and he and Ahrendts got married when they were in their 30s.
Couch started his own contracting business after moving to New York, but he gave it up when Ahrendts took over as CEO of Burberry, becoming a stay-at-home dad.
Source: Wall Street Journal
While at Burberry, Ahrendts had a clothing allowance of more than $33,000.
She also got an 80% discount on her Burberry purchases.
Ahrendts was often decked out in clothes from Burberry Prorsum — the brand’s haute couture line. She still wears the brand’s clothes even though she no longer works at the company.
Source: The Guardian
In April 2014, Ahrendts became executive vice president of retail at Apple.
The tech giant tasked her with revamping its stores and improving employee morale. It also gave her the charge of making the buying process at its outlets feel more like a luxury experience and of improving the merger of its digital and brick-and-mortar shopping experiences.
Source: Fast Company, New York Times
Ahrendts was a fan of Apple even before she joined the company.
“If I look to any company as a model, it’s Apple,” she told the Wall Street Journal while still serving as Burberry’s CEO. “They’re a brilliant design company working to create a lifestyle, and that’s the way I see us.”
Source: Wall Street Journal
