Former CFO Fred Anderson Named to Apple Board

A pple Computer announced Tuesday that Fred Anderson, Appleis former executive vice president and Chief Financial Officer, has been elected to the companyis board of directors. Anderson retired on June 1 and was succeeded by Peter Oppenheimer as CFO.

"Fred is widely regarded as one of the industryis leading financial experts and we want his guidance and judgment to continue benefiting Appleis shareholders," said Appleis Chief Executive Steve Jobs, in a prepared statement. "Though it is currently out of vogue to add insiders to boards, Fred is the exception to the rule."

Anderson worked for more than eight years as Appleis executive vice president and CFO until his retirement on February 5 of this year. He currently serves on the board of directors of eBay and E.piphany. He has been credited with the healthy financial position that he left the company in.

Apple has been criticized in the past for having too many iinsidersi, people close to Jobs, on its board. In December, 2002, the board was singled out by Business Week magazine as having the worst board of directors in the US because of what it called conflicts of interest in those directors other companies also having business ties with Apple. In March 2003 the company began addressing these concerns with the addition of former US Vice President Albert Gore as a board member. The company also made changes to its employees stock options program.