I think your Apple example is helping to disprove your point.<p>&gt; I would argue if you replace the current CEO of apple with a random apple SW engineer, the company wouldn&#x27;t change much.<p>That&#x27;s exactly what happened in the 80&#x27;s - they forced Steve Jobs out, and the company lost all their market share and was on the verge on dying, before he came back.<p>&gt; Steve jobs died, Apple stock has gone up since his death.<p>By that time, Steve Jobs knew he was going to die and picked his successor very carefully - Tim Cook is definitely a great choice. Some would argue, however, that Apple is still thriving because of Steve&#x27;s ideas, and as soon as they run out of them, Apple will start to decline. The jury is still out on that one, however.