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[Updated: June 6, 2017; 7:58 pm]: Bozoma Saint John confirms her departure from Apple and her hiring at Uber as the company’s new Chief Brand Officer in an interview with Variety.
[Updated June 6, 2016 at 1:19 PM]: TechCrunch is reporting that Bozoma is heading to Uber. The information comes via a tip and TechCrunch is reporting it has “confirmed the appointment through multiple sources at Uber.”
After shaking up the tech world with her larger-than-life personality and marketing genius, Bozoma “Boz” Saint John is reportedly leaving her position as head of Global Consumer Marketing for Apple Music and iTunes.
Axios reported on Friday that Saint John—a self-described “head diva” who is responsible for helping Apple Music sales grow exponentially last year—plans to leave the billion-dollar music streaming service. Saint John has not yet responded to a Black Enterprise inquiry about the report.
Before starting her tenure at Apple Music, Saint John worked as Head of Music and Marketing Entertainment for PepsiCo where she played a major role in curating both Beyoncé’s sponsorship deal with Pepsi and her 2013 Super Bowl half-time performance. In 2014, the marketing exec began working for Beats Music, which was later acquired by Apple that same year.
However, her profile rose after she delivered a remarkably impressive presentation at the 2016 Worldwide Developers Conference, making her the first black woman to present at an Apple event. There, she demonstrated new Apple Music features while playing “Rapper’s Delight” on stage.
Under her leadership, revenues from Apple services, which includes Apple Music, grew by 24% in the third quarter of 2016, generating a record-breaking $6.3 billion for the quarter. Plus, the number of paid Apple Music subscribers more than doubled to 20 million by the end of the year. Saint John was also behind Apple Music’s popular commercial series, featuring Mary J. Blige, Kerry Washington, and Taraji P. Henson.
In addition to helping Apple Music make major strides, Saint John surfaced as one of the most visible executives at Apple. She was named to Fortune‘s 40 Under 40 last year and spoke at its Most Powerful Women: Next Gen Summit. She also starred in an Apple Music commercial and graced the cover of Black Enterprise’s February 2017 Women of Power cover.
Born in Ghana, Saint John’s mere presence at Apple helped the company combat its highly scrutinized lack of diversity problem. With her signature high heels and big hair, she also served as a game-changing marketing leader in the industry at large.