[killjoywashere]

> Is it some kind of monarchy?

Bueno de Mesquita makes a compelling case for modeling most corporations as dictatorships in The Dictator's Handbook. So as long as succession is planned at the Corp, then yes, I suppose monar hy would be the correct model.

[Krasnol]

But Apple is not a monarchy and the size of a company even protects a CEO in the western capitalism. A CEO of a startup may end up in debt and without a company if bad decisions are made. A CEO of a huge company will usually be let go with a sufficient good bye pay and an outlook for another job (or he blames somebody else and never leaves even if guilty).