UPDATE: J. C. Penney Company Names Apple's Ron Johnson as Its Next CEO, Effective November 1

Myron E. Ullman, III, chairman and chief executive officer of J. C. Penney Company, Inc. JCP, today announced that Ron Johnson has been named the Company's next chief executive officer, succeeding Mr. Ullman in that role. Mr. Johnson will assume the CEO position on Nov. 1, 2011, and report to Mr. Ullman, who will become executive chairman. Mr. Johnson will also join the Company's Board of Directors, effective Aug. 1, 2011. Mr. Johnson, 52, has served for the past 11 years as senior vice president of retail at Apple Inc., AAPL where he led its retail strategy, which from its start in 2001 now numbers over 300 stores in the U.S. and abroad.