To me it seems like somebody is afraid to make a tough decision. There have been indications that Ive wants to get out for quite a while. So they offered him more and more to make him stay. As the article says, they promoted his C-level job to a A-level one. They gave him ever more freedom, power, and probably money. Now came the point where his willingness to leave became too big. The obvious choice would have been a full divorce. Of course that is hard. But now Apple is basically outsourcing one of its core competences, product design. That is both dangerous and embarrassing for such an iconic company.