The real iCloud – Apple’s new campus

While there were several major announcements at WWDC, one that went relatively unnoticed was the huge new campus building that was proposed by Steve Jobs.

One of my first thoughts was Peter Lynch’s investment principle #7 “The extravagance of any corporate office is directly proportional to management's reluctance to reward shareholders”.

However when I thought about it more, the campus seems to be based primarily on a clear need to house all current and future Apple employees in one place. If anything Apple has been somewhat conservative in their campus expansion as they are at overcapacity at their existing facilities. Additionally, even if the facility was built today they will be able to occupy 80% of the building. The campus will most likely be custom built to Apple’s needs and is unlikely to be a manifestation of hubris and extravagance.