The surprise successor will be 35-year-old Michael Novak, who has been with the company since 2010. For Novak, “the appointment came out of nowhere. Just after the company’s Lincoln Center season ended in March, he went to Mr. Taylor’s apartment for a meeting. ‘Paul said, ‘I have been thinking a long time and I have decided that you’re going to be the one to take over the company once I buzz off,’’ Mr. Novak said. ‘I don’t think ‘shocked’ even begins to describe the feeling.'”