It's Time for a Boardroom Shakeup at Apple

Let's have a moment of silence for the passing of a business giant.

Jerry York has left this world behind at the age of 71. He is perhaps best known for his involvement in the auto industry, where he worked for Ford (NYSE: F  ) , Chrysler, and General Motors, and came close to brokering a GM tie-up with Nissan (Nasdaq: NSANY  ) and Fiat before the auto giant dropped off a steep cliff with pointy rocks at the bottom.

You might also know him as a longtime board member at Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL  ) , where he stepped aboard along with Larry Ellison of Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL  ) during the second coming of Steve Jobs way back in 1997 (not to be confused with the third coming of 2009). He served as chairman of the finance and audit committees until his death.

Losing someone who was the chair of two important committees as well as a strong leader with decades of multi-industry experience is a serious blow to any company. Apple's cult of Jobs still requires a few supporting actors, and York had been a big one for more than a decade.

But I wouldn't worry too much about Apple. It is an industry giant with a brand name that stretches across generations and industries (a few scandals notwithstanding) and should have no trouble attracting a replacement with the requisite skills. After losing Google (Nasdaq: GOOG  ) CEO Eric Schmidt to competitive concerns and now Jerry York to a more somber fate in less than a year, it's high time for Apple to restock the boardroom. But who will get the nods?

It makes sense to invite COO and former interim CEO Tim Cook to board meetings, but Apple likes to think big and probably won't go the obvious route. Co-founder and Dancing With the Stars foot-flapper Steve Wozniak would be a popular and quirky choice, but the other Steve wouldn't do much to replace York's financial expertise.

Perhaps Jobs could pull some strings at Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS  ) , where he holds a board seat himself, is the company's single largest shareholder, and once owned animation arm Pixar outright. Former Pixar and current Twitter CFO Ali Rowghani would make a lot of sense on Apple's board today. Longtime Disney CFO Tom Staggs is another sensible choice.

But when's the last time Apple did anything sensible? Gather around the comments water cooler below and let the speculation about York's and Schmidt's replacements begin.