Apple and Starbucks Share Common Connections in iTunes Deal

Starbuck’s Corp and Apple Inc have finalized a deal that will allow customers in Starbucks stores to buy and download music through a new wireless iTunes service (see article Yahoo! Finance ). IntellectSpace created a Knowledge Map of the connections between the two companies in order to determine how common links may have factored into this deal.

An initial mapping of the ties between the companies yielded numerous results. We narrowed our findings and discovered two very strong connections that link Apple and Starbucks through apparel companies Timberland and Nike. The strongest tie is through Timberland, where Ian Diery (former EVP at Apple) has been a Director since 1996 and the CEO since 1997. Starbucks’ Kenneth Lombard (SVP of Entertainment since 2004) has also been a Director at Timberland since 2005. It is quite plausible that the two are well acquainted, this connection playing a strong role in initializing and finalizing the deal.

Another connection links Timothy Cook (Chief Operating Officer at Apple) and Martin Coles (Chief Operating Officer at Starbucks). Cook has been a Director at Nike since 2005. Cole held several executive positions at Nike from 1992-2000 before leaving to become COO at Starbucks. It is reasonable to assumethat due to his high-level position at Nike, Cole still retains contact with several of his former colleagues, who could then easily put in him in touch with Cook.

These key connections likely played a significant role in this innovative partnership.

Click here for an interactive version of this IntellectSpace Knowledge Map (Internet Explorer browsers only):http://nv.intellectspace.com/ispace/GuestMonitor.aspx?id=9bc0acdc-18d6-4015-93fc-07a00f63e36a