Tim Cook Slams Wall Street Journal Over Jony Ive Resignation Claims: 'Story Is Absurd'

Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook is pushing back hard against the notion the departure of chief design officer (CDO) Jony Ive confirms organizational squabbles are tearing the company apart.

Cook reacted angrily to a story published Sunday by The Wall Street Journal saying Ive was leaving Apple, which he joined 27 years ago, out of frustration with Cook’s leadership, his focus on operations and his lack of interest in design.

In a scathing email to NBC News, Cook rebutted the Journal’s allegations and blasted them as fantasies. Cook also said the story fails to understand how Apple's design team really works.

"The story is absurd," wrote Cook in the email. "A lot of the reporting, and certainly the conclusions, just don’t match with reality.”

“At a base level, it shows a lack of understanding about how the design team works and how Apple works. It distorts relationships, decisions and events to the point that we just don’t recognize the company it claims to describe."

Observers say Cook hardly ever publicly comments on stories that might seem unfair to Apple but made an exception in this case because he felt the Journal’s story was based on outright falsehoods.

The story written by Tripp Mickle claims Ive "had been growing more distant from Apple’s leadership," partly because he was frustrated with Cook's "more operations-focused company.”

"People in the design studio rarely saw Mr. Cook, who they say showed little interest in the product development process -- a fact that dispirited Mr. Ive," wrote Mickle.

"Mr. Ive grew frustrated as Apple’s board became increasingly populated by directors with backgrounds in finance and operations rather than technology or other areas of the company’s core business."

The Journal story also focused on the very close relationship Ive enjoyed with the late Steve Jobs. It describes Ive as "Jobs’ protégé -- and Apple’s closest thing to a living embodiment of his (Job’s) spirit."

Ive and Jobs worked closely to create many of Apple's best products (such as the iPhone). The design head was also the driving force behind the introduction of the Apple Watch.

Under Jobs, Ive was long seen as one of the most influential figures at Apple. That role seems to have diminished under Cook.

The story said Ive’s promotion to CDO in 2015 was designed to strip him of his day-to-day management responsibilities. Ive’s loyal design team, however, always sought his input instead of the department’s new managers.

“They still wanted Jony’s thumbs-up to go forward,” said a source.

Analysts note Apple hasn’t made a design breakthrough in years. Others point to the fact Apple’s laptops don’t even have touch screens as indications of infighting inside Apple.

The Journal upholds Mikel’s story. Colleen Schwartz, senior vice president of communications for the Journal, said the newspaper stands by its reporting.