Tim Cook

For other uses, see Tim Cook (disambiguation).

Tim Cook
Cook, in January 2009, after the Macworld Expo
Born	Timothy Donald Cook (1960-11-01) November 1, 1960 Robertsdale, Alabama, U.S.
Alma mater	Auburn University (B.S.) Duke University (M.B.A.)
Occupation	CEO, Apple
Net worth	$400 million (est.)
Board member of	Apple Nike (2005—present)
Signature

Timothy Donald "Tim" Cook (born November 1, 1960) is an American business executive, and is the CEO of Apple Inc. Cook joined Apple in March 1998 as SVP of Worldwide Operations and also served as EVP of Worldwide Sales and Operations and was COO until he was named the CEO of Apple on August 24, 2011, succeeding Steve Jobs. Cook had previously served as acting CEO of Apple after Jobs began medical leave in January 2011.

In early 2012, he was awarded compensation of 1 million shares, vesting in 2016 and 2021, by Apple's Board of Directors. As of 2012, Cook's total compensation package of US$378 million makes him the highest paid CEO in the world.

Early years

Cook grew up in Robertsdale, Alabama, near Mobile. His father was a shipyard worker, while his mother was a homemaker. Cook graduated from high school at Robertsdale High School, earned a B.S. degree in industrial engineering from Auburn University in 1982, and his M.B.A. from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business in 1988.

Career

Before Apple

Cook served as chief operating officer (COO) of the computer reseller division of Intelligent Electronics. He also spent 12 years in IBM's personal computer business as the director of North American Fulfillment. Cook was VP for Corporate Materials at Compaq for six months.

Apple

Apple Inc.

Cook was asked by Steve Jobs to join Apple in 1998. In a commencement speech at his almer mater Auburn University, Cook said he decided to join Apple after meeting Jobs for the first time:

Any purely rational consideration of cost and benefits lined up in Compaq's favor, and the people who knew me best advised me to stay at Compaq...On that day in early 1998 I listened to my intuition, not the left side of my brain or for that matter even the people who knew me best....no more than five minutes into my initial interview with Steve, I wanted to throw caution and logic to the wind and join Apple. My intuition already knew that joining Apple was a once in a lifetime opportunity to work for the creative genius, and to be on the executive team that could resurrect a great American company.

His first assignment was Senior Vice President for Worldwide Operations. Cook has been quoted as saying "You kind of want to manage it like you're in the dairy business. If it gets past its freshness date, you have a problem".

In January 2007, Cook was promoted to COO.

Cook served as Apple CEO for two months in 2004, when Jobs was recovering from pancreatic cancer surgery. In 2009, Cook again served as Apple CEO for several months while Jobs took a leave of absence for a liver transplant.

In January 2011, Apple's Board of Directors approved a third medical leave of absence requested by Jobs. During that time, Cook was responsible for most of Apple’s day-to-day operations while Jobs made most major decisions. After Jobs resigned as CEO and became chairman of the board, Cook was named CEO of Apple Inc. on August 24, 2011. On October 5, 2011 Steve Jobs died due to complications from a relapse of his previously treated islet-cell neuroendocrine pancreatic cancer, one day after Apple's Keynote on the 4th of October. On that keynote iOS 5, iPhone 4S, Siri, and iCloud were announced. On March 7, 2012 Apple announced an iPad with Retina display and an updated Apple TV.

In April 2012, Time magazine included Cook on its annual 100 Most Influential People in the World list. On June 11, 2012 at Apple's WWDC iOS 6 was announced that featured Apple Maps and was received by the public with hard criticism, Apple also announced a MacBook Pro with Retina display, updated MacBook Air's and Pro lines, and Airport Express N Routers and Time Capsules and introduced Mac OS X Mountain Lion.

In September to October 2012 at Apple's Fall Keynote Tim Cook announced its newest iPhone model, the iPhone 5 alongside the new iPad Mini, and an updated iPad, and introduced a super thin iMac alongside a newer Mac Mini and an updated Macbook Pro with retina display, iPod Touch Models were also updated to match the new iPhone 5's screen resolution. iOS 6 was released for iPhone 3GS, 4, and 4S users and iPhone 5 was shipped with it. A new version of iTunes was showcased and released.

On October 29, 2012, Cook made major changes to the company's executive team. Scott Forstall resigned as senior vice president of iOS, becoming an advisor to Cook until his scheduled departure from the company in 2013. John Browett, who was SVP of retail, was dismissed after six months on the job having received 100,000 shares worth $60 million when he joined. Forstall's duties were divided among four other Apple executives: design SVP Jonathan Ive assumed leadership of Apple's Human Interface team, Craig Federighi became the new head of iOS software engineering, while services chief Eddy Cue took over responsibilities for Maps and Siri, and Bob Mansfield (previously SVP of hardware engineering) returned to oversee a new technology group. This came after Q3 revenues and profits grew less than predicted, which was the second quarter in a row that Apple failed to meet expectations however had a quarter revenue of . One commentator said that Forstall was forced to step down as Cook "has decided to lance the boil as internal politics and dissent reached a key pitch". Cook's direction since becoming CEO was to build a culture of harmony, which meant "weeding out people with disagreeable personalities—people Jobs tolerated and even held close, like Forstall", although another journalist said that "Apple's ability to innovate came from tension and disagreement." 2012 has been Apple's most productive year with over 15 products released.

In 2013 Apple quietly rolled out an iPod Touch model without a rear camera and updated its Macbook Pro retina model. Apple showcased iOS 7 and Mac OS X Mavericks at its annual World Wide Developers Conference on June 10-14 following Jony Ives' design of simplicity changing the overall look of iOS for a more translucent feel, taking away from previous iOS versions design elements to focus on being less obtrusive and more future prone. Under Tim Cook Apple introduced a new Macbook Air Model carrying Intels latest Haswell CPU's and the latest Wifi technologies being the first computer company to adopt the IEEE 802.11 AC standard as Apple also announced new Airport Time Capsules to go along with it and future devices. Tim Cook also announced an updated Mac Pro that is 8 times smaller than the previous generations before it, similar to how small the PowerMac G4 Cube was back in 2001 but instead uses a cylindrical design offering the best of new technologies in a such a small package.

Alongside Google vice-president Vint Cerf and AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, Cook attended a closed-door summit held by President Obama on August 8, 2013 in regard to government surveillance and the Internet in the wake of the Edward Snowden NSA incident.

Cook in the media

Cook has attended All Things Digital Conferences hosted by Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher, journalists from the Wall Street Journal, to talk about topics ranging from Apple's future and where it stands, wearable technologies, and the Post PC era given with the rise of mobile devices such as tablets and phones designed by Apple like the iPad and iPhone. Cook has sent a public apology to its customers for its Apple Maps application that was released in iOS 6, however the application has improved dramatically over time featuring 3D Mapping technologies and Siri as a voice navigator assistant. Tim Cook has visited distribution channels from time to time to inspect working conditions to report findings to Apple stockholders. He has been in an interview with Brian Williams from NBC Studios and has been in court cases against Samsung for use of patents and designs over the years that appear to copy Apple's designs. Cook has also fought against tax evasion accusations against the U.S. Congress. Cook visited Duke University's Fuqua School of Business for his 25th reunion.

Personal life

Cook is a fitness enthusiast and enjoys hiking, cycling, and going to the gym. He regularly begins sending emails at 4:30 a.m. and used to hold Sunday night staff meetings by telephone to prepare for the next week. Cook also serves on the board of directors of Nike and the National Football Foundation.

While giving the 2010 commencement speech at Auburn University, Cook emphasized the importance of intuition in guiding his life's biggest choices, and followed by stating that preparation and hard work are also necessary to execute on that intuition.

Under Cook's leadership, Apple has increased its donations to charity.

Cook shared the three keys to his leadership at Apple: people, strategy, and execution. "If you get those three right the world is a great place."^{[citation needed]}

External links

• Tim Cook at Apple
• Tim Cook at The New York Times

Business positions
Preceded by Steve Jobs	CEO of Apple 2011–present	Incumbent