Timothy Donald Cook (born November 1, 1960) is the CEO of Apple and serves on its Board of Directors. The highest paid CEO, Cook owns shares valued at US$1.3 billion as of 2015.[1]
Early life and education
Cook was born in Mobile, Alabama and raised nearby in Robertsdale. He earned an M.B.A. from Duke University, where he was a Fuqua Scholar, and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from Auburn University.[2]
Career
Before being recruited by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, Cook worked at Compaq as a VP for Corporate Materials. He served as Senior Vice President for Worldwide Operations. Cook also served as COO of Intelligent Electronics and also spent 12 years at IBM as the director of North American Fulfillment.[3]
Apple
When Cook joined Apple Computer in March 1998, he became the company's Senior VP of Worldwide Operations.[3] He was promoted to Chief Operating Officer and became responsible for all of the company’s worldwide sales and operations, including end-to-end management of Apple’s supply chain, sales activities, and service and support in all markets and countries. He also headed Apple’s Macintosh division and played a key role in the continued development of strategic reseller and supplier relationships, ensuring flexibility in response to an increasingly demanding marketplace. Cook is credited for pulling Apple out of manufacturing by closing unprofitable factories and warehouses around the world. He reorganized Apple's supply chains to support lean manufacturing methods pioneered by Toyota. He has called inventory "fundamentally evil", remarking that "Inventory is like dairy products... and who wants to buy spoiled milk?" Cook's success has led to him being called the "high priest of just-in-time manufacturing".[4]
Cook first became acting CEO of Apple for 2 months in 2004 while Steve Jobs recovered from pancreatic cancer surgery, and again in 2009 when Steve Jobs took a leave of absence for a liver transplant. In January 2011, Steve Jobs was approved for another medical leave, and Cook was placed in charge for most of Apple's day-to-day operations, while Steve Jobs was in charge of major decisions of the company.
On August 24, 2011, Jobs resigned as CEO of Apple and was succeeded for the fourth time by Tim Cook, this time permanently. Cook not only serves as Apple's CEO, but also on the Board of Directors for Nike as the 11th director of the sports apparel company since 2005.

Cook has been a member of the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board. During a meeting at the White House in March 2019, U.S. President Donald Trump addressed Cook as "Tim Apple". Cook responded by changing his Twitter account name to "Tim ".[5] In August 2020, the market value of Apple, which was $350 billion at the beginning of Cook's tenure, became the first to surpass $2 trillion. Cook, himself now a billionaire, has already donated millions to charity and pledged to give most of his wealth away.[6]
Personal life
Cook is a fitness enthusiast, and enjoys hiking, cycling, and going to the gym. Cook normally starts to send emails at 4:30 AM. On October 29th, 2014, Cook came out as openly gay.[7]
Stalking incident
On January 21, 2022, Cook was granted a restraining order, barring Julia Lee Choi from his home and Apple premises. Choi baselessly claimed that Cook was her husband and the father of her twin children and drove from McLean, Virginia to Cook's home in Palo Alto, California, where she was met with by police. On December 21, 2021, she asked for $500 million in cash and then threatened to burn down his home.[8]
References
- ↑ Cowley, Stacey (August 26, 2011). Apple gives Tim Cook $384 million stock grant.
- ↑ Tim Cook -- Apple CEO and Robertsdale's favorite son -- still finds time to return to his Baldwin County roots by Michael Finch II, Press-Register. 2014-02-24.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 How Steve Jobs finally persuaded a 37-year-old Tim Cook to join a near-bankrupt Apple in 1998 by Leander Kahney, CNBC. 2019-04-16.
- ↑ News analysis: Is pandemic killing just-in-time supply? by Sean Ashcroft, SupplyChain. 2022-01-11.
- ↑ Trump says he called Apple’s CEO ‘Tim Apple’ to save time after reportedly telling donors he never said it by Lauren Feiner, CNBC. 2019-03-11.
- ↑ Apple CEO Tim Cook is now a billionaire by Anders Melin, Tom Metcalf, and Bloomberg, Fortune. 2020-08-10.
- ↑ What Tim Cook says coming out cost him—and why he still has ‘no regrets’ by Zameena Mejia, CNBC. 2018-06-23.
- ↑ Virginia woman, 45, who is 'obsessed' with Apple CEO Tim Cook is hit with restraining order after she drove her Porsche, while possibly armed, to Palo Alto to look for him by Harrier Alexander, Daily Mail. 2022-01-25.
External links
- Tim Cook at Apple
- Timothy D. Cook (archived 1998-04-29)
- Tim Cook at All about Steve Jobs
- Tim Cook at Biography
- Tim Cook at Crunchbase
- Tim Cook at Forbes
- Tim Cook verified Twitter
- Tim Cook at Wikipedia
Articles
- Apple Is the $2.3 Trillion Fortress That Tim Cook Built by Austin Carr and Mark Gurman at Bloomberg (2021-02-09)