Tony Blevins

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Tony J. Blevins (born February 1967) is the former vice president of procurement at Apple Inc. He was among 30 executives who reported directly to Apple CEO Tim Cook.The PC lunacy behind top Apple exec Tony Blevins stepping down over ‘Arthur’ TikTok by Kirsten Fleming, The New York Post. 2022-09-30.
==Early life and education==
Anthony Jackson "Tony" Blevins was born to Jack and Iris Blevins of , where he was raised and graduated from in 1985.Blevins honored as Distinguished Alumni, Ashe Post & Times. 2019-04-01. He received a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from the (NCSU) in 1989.Meet 2018 Distinguished Alumni: Tony Blevins by Rob Lasson, Industrial and Systems Engineering at NC State. 2018-11-05.
==Career==
While an undergraduate, Blevins was in a with . After graduating, he joined IBM and worked in engineering, finance, procurement, and production control. He eventually became the program director at an IBM development laboratory in .
===Apple===
Blevins left IBM and joined Apple Computer in 2000, where he led a team that procured parts for Apple products, including every version of the iPod. After Apple Computer became Apple Inc., his department continued to do so for every iPhone and iPad under his tenure. Blevins became known for his ruthlessness in negotiating favorable contracts on behalf of Apple, where he was nicknamed "The Blevinator".Profile focuses on Apple’s cutthroat buying practices and ‘The Blevinator’ by Brad Gibson, Cult of Mac. 2020-01-23. He would often schedule meetings with various suppliers on the same date at Apple's headquarters, so that they would become aware of their competition while waiting in the lobby. Blevins once rejected a contract proposal from (UPS) by sending it back via .Jobs, Cook, Ive—Blevins? The Rise of Apple’s Cost Cutter by Tripp Mickle, The Wall Street Journal. 2020-01-23. During the construction of Apple Park, CEO Tim Cook assigned Blevins with managing the cost of the glass that was used, which he then negotiated down by hundreds of millions from the initial 1 billion estimate.Apple Executive Tony Blevins' "Joke" Went Viral on TikTok, Cost Him His Job by Kathryn Underwood, Market Realist. 2022-09-30.
Blevins left Apple in September 2022 after a TikTok post of him surfaced and went viral. In the posted video, recorded at events related to the charity car show in the preceding August, Blevins made a vulgar remark derived from dialog in the 1981 comedy film after parking his expensive at the course. He was reported to Apple's human resources department by staff reportedly from within the procurement team.Apple executive leaves after viral TikTok captures him making crude joke about ‘big-breasted women’ by Josh Marcus, The Independent. 2022-09-30. Blevins publicly apologized for his "mistaken attempt at humor".Top Apple exec leaving company after vulgar remark on TikTok video by David Propper, The New York Post. 2022-09-29. The final decision on the departure of Blevins was reportedly made by COO Jeff Williams. After the news became public, Apple stock fell to its lowest point in the financial quarter.Apple Stock Had an Awful September. But the Quarter Wasn’t Half-Bad. by Angela Palumbo, Barron's. 2022-09-30.
==Honors==
In 2018, Blevins was named a distinguished alumnus by the Edward P. Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering at .
==Trivia==
In March 2011, Blevins was stranded at during a business trip to Japan after the area was hit by the .Tsunami's Waves Felt in Ashe by Jesse Campbell, . 2011-03-25.
==References==
==External links==
*Inspiring Engineers With Tony Blevins at North Carolina State University
**The Art of Negotiation with Tony Blevins
Category:Former Apple employees
Category:Former IBM employees