Katie Cotton, who served as Apple’s vice president of global communications for 18 years until her retirement from the company in May 2014, died on April 6. Her obituary says she died peacefully “surrounded by family and close friends”. Born in 1965, she was 57 or 58 years old.
Cotten was well known as a leader in public relations and marketing, joining Apple in 1996 shortly after Jobs returned. She was instrumental in shaping Apple’s communications strategy and the culture of secrecy within the company. Cotton was known for her fierce control of how Apple was portrayed by the press and was also the gatekeeper who controlled access to late Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs.
“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Katie,” Apple said in a statement to Bloomberg. “She was an amazing person and made countless contributions during her two-decade career at Apple. Our hearts go out to her loved ones and to all who had the opportunity to work with her. The current Apple’s vice president of global communications is Kristin Huguet Quayle, who has been with the company since 2005.
As igamesnews contributor Christopher Breen wrote upon his retirement in 2014, Cotton and Apple “have largely shaken up public relations,” with a strategy that has seen the company “present products and announcements as special events – that the whole world (and journalists in particular) then claim to know more.
Since his retirement, which was to allow him to spend more time with his family, Cotton had been teaching children about mental health education by volunteering in local community organizations. She is survived by her children, Ethan and Isabelle Mimeles, and her life partner Jim Wells.
