Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, received a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Auburn University and an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. Tim Cook spent 12 years working for IBM before moving on to managerial positions at Intelligent Electronics and Compaq. He then joined Apple in 1998. Following the passing of his predecessor Steve Jobs in August 2011, Cook was appointed Apple’s new CEO.
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Early Life
Tim Cook was born Timothy D. Cook on November 1, 1960, in the hamlet of Robertsdale, Alabama. Cook, the middle son of three boys, was born to Geraldine, a housewife, and Donald, a shipyard worker. He attended Robertsdale High School and placed second in his class in 1978.
He studied at Auburn University in Alabama and earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering there in 1982. He then pursued more education, graduating in 1988 with a master’s in business administration from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. Cook also received the distinction of Fuqua Scholar, which is reserved for those business school students who achieve a graduation rate in the top 10 percent of their class.
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Early Career
Tim Cook started a profession in computer technology right out of graduate school. After being employed by IBM, he worked his way up the corporate ladder to become the company’s North American fulfillment director, overseeing the manufacturing and delivery operations for IBM’s Personal Computer Company in both North and Latin America.
In 1994, Cook joined Intelligent Electronics as the chief operating officer of the Reseller Division after a 12-year stint at IBM. After three years, he was hired by Compaq Computer Corporation as vice president of corporate materials, where he was responsible for product inventory management and purchasing. But his tenure there was brief: Cook only stayed at Compaq for six months before moving on to work for Apple.
Career at Apple
About 12 years after joining the company, Cook said, “My most significant discovery so far in my life was the result of one single decision: My decision to join Apple,” in a speech at Auburn University’s commencement in 2010.
Tim Cook started working for Apple in early 1998, before the iMac, iPod, iPhone, or iPad had been created, and at a time when the business was experiencing diminishing earnings rather than profit growth. Cook claims that he was really discouraged from accepting his position at Apple before he did so because of how grim the company’s future appeared to be.
“While Apple did make Macs, the company had been losing sales for years and was commonly considered to be on the verge of extinction,” he told the Auburn graduates. “Only a few months before I’d accepted the job at Apple, Michael Dell, the founder and CEO of Dell Computer, was publicly asked what he would do to fix Apple, and he responded, ‘I’d shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders.'”
But as soon as Cook joined the team as a vice president, everything swiftly changed. A remarkable turnaround from a recent report that showed a net loss of $1 billion for the prior fiscal year occurred less than a year after his Apple debut.
As Tim Cook advanced to the positions of executive vice president and chief operating officer, he was given charge of overseeing global sales and operations as well as the Macintosh business and the ongoing growth of reseller/supplier relationships.
Tim Cook was appointed Apple’s new CEO in August 2011, succeeding former CEO and Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who passed away in October 2011 after a protracted battle with cancer. Cook is the corporation’s CEO in addition to being a member of the board of directors.
Apple made its largest acquisition to date in May 2014 when it paid $3 billion to acquire Beats Music and Beats Electronics. Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine, who co-founded Beats, would take on senior positions at Apple as part of the agreement. Cook wrote in a letter to the company’s staff, “This afternoon we announced that Apple is acquiring Beats Music and Beats Electronics, two fast-growing businesses which complement our product line and will help extend the Apple ecosystem in the future. Bringing our companies together paves the way for amazing developments which our customers will love.”
Following that, Cook unveiled OSX Yosemite, the most recent version of Apple’s desktop and mobile operating system, at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June 2014.
Tim Cook debuted the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in September of the same year, both of which have larger screens and new features like Apple Pay and “Burst Selfies.” A wearable device to measure exercise and health called the “Apple Watch,” which will be available for purchase in 2015, was also introduced by him.
Tim Cook continued to direct the creation of fresh products, like as the app Clips, which allowed users to make quick films for social media. Apple introduced the iPhone X a few months after its spring 2017 presentation, which caused a stir in the tech community due to its face recognition technology.
Along the way, the business unveiled the Apple News app to provide customers with access to content from numerous sources. The Washington Post’s Election Now dashboard and other exclusive content, as well as selected content from reputable websites, were promised for the 2018 midterm elections section that Apple announced in June 2018.
Cook responded when asked why he thought it was necessary to present news to users in that way, stating, “For Apple News, we felt top stories should be selected by humans, not to be political at all but… to make sure you’re not picking information that simply has the objective of enraging people.”
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Tax Rates and Other Controversies
As Apple’s CEO, Cook dealt with a growing number of inquiries regarding the firm’s practice of keeping money in foreign accounts. In a 2013 Senate hearing, Cook refuted claims that he was trying to avoid paying taxes in the United States by pointing out that Apple had one of the highest effective tax rates of any significant firm.
The “Paradise Papers” leak from November 2017 brought further information about Apple’s tax strategies: Apple moved its assets to the Channel Islands off Normandy in 2014 when the European Union opened an investigation into the company’s agreement with the Irish government, under which it paid a tax rate as low as 0.005% on its significant holdings in the nation. Later, the EU compelled Apple to pay back roughly $14.5 billion in unpaid taxes.
“Apple believes every company has a responsibility to pay its taxes, and as the largest taxpayer in the world, Apple pays every dollar it owes in every country around the world,” the company said in a statement following the release of the Paradise Papers.
Investing in the United States and Philanthropy
Early in 2018, Apple committed to spending $350 billion and creating 20,000 new employment in the American economy over the following five years. According to the plan, the company agreed to invest $55 billion in 2018 alone and construct a new renewable energy-powered facility in the United States.
Additionally, Apple announced that it would increase its advanced manufacturing fund and broaden its coding programs, both of which are intended to help instructors and children develop important computing skills.
The Wall Street Journal reported in early February that Apple Music had been growing its monthly subscriptions in the U.S. market at a rate that was more than double that of Spotify, putting Apple on track to overtake its competitor by the end of the summer. As of January 2018, Spotify still had a significant lead over Apple, with 70 million paid customers to its 36 million.
Following the coronavirus epidemic in March 2020, Apple declared that the business has contributed $15 million to worldwide relief efforts. A few weeks later, Cook disclosed that Apple had started making face shields and intended to send millions of them to healthcare professionals in the upcoming weeks.
Personal Life
Cook acknowledged that he is gay in an opinion piece he penned for Bloomberg Businessweek in October 2014. Although I’ve never denied being gay, he added, “I haven’t publicly admitted it either, until today. In order to be clear, I’ll say that I’m proud to be gay and that I think being gay is one of the greatest things God has given me.
Cook has stated that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s quote, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’” has motivated him. He added that he made the decision to reveal his sexual orientation to the public in order to further the cause of equality and human rights for all.
Tim Cook is single and doesn’t have any kids.
Tim Cook contributed to the presidential campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Tim was formerly a candidate to be Clinton’s running mate in the 2016 election.
Tim Cook has stated that he intends to leave the majority of his wealth to charities after his passing.
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Tim Cook’s Net Worth and Salary
Tim Cook is a successful American businessman who is best known for leading Apple Inc. He started working there in 1998, and in 2011 he was made CEO. Tim Cook’s net worth is $1.5 billion as of this writing.
Under former CEO and creator Steve Jobs, Apple’s top market valuation was $350 billion. Many people wondered how Tim, who had been named CEO in 2011, could surpass his brilliant predecessor. At the moment, Apple has a market value of more than $2.4 trillion.
Ten years after Tim Cook became CEO, if you had invested $1,000 in Apple stock, you would have $13,000 now.
Tim has said he intends to contribute the majority of his wealth before he passes away and has already given millions to other charities.
Salary and Perks
Tim earned $500,000 a year as Apple’s Senior Vice President of Worldwide Operations before being named CEO. Tim Cook’s annual pay increased to $900,000 in 2011 when he initially took the helm as CEO of Apple. Tim currently makes a base salary of $3.4 million plus an $8 to $12 million bonus per year.
Tim occasionally receives substantial amounts of Apple options in addition to his salary and bonus, which vest over time. In a certain year, his vested shares are included in his income. For instance, Tim received vested shares worth $113.5 million in 2019, in addition to his salary and bonuses, bringing his total compensation for the year to over $125 million.
Tim received total remuneration from Apple of $963.5 million between 2011, the year he was appointed CEO, and 2020. Tim receives extra income from Apple in the form of personal security costs of about $500,000 per year, on average. For every personal and professional trip, he must fly privately. The annual cost of those flights is almost $315,000.
How Many Shares of Apple Does Tim Cook Own?
Tim earned a sizable grant of options that vested in 10 annual increments on the day he was appointed CEO (he received the first chunk up front, so technically only 9 tranches vested over time). His grant included a portion based on performance. Only in the event that Apple outperformed 2/3 of the S&P 500 would those shares be issued.
Every single performance benchmark has been met by him. In August 2020, he received his ninth grant or about 560,000 shares. At their share price in August 2020, roughly half of those shares are set aside to pay an estimated tax debt. The 280,000 shares Tim received were worth $126 million at $450 per share (this was before the Apple stock split).
Tim already holds 847,969 fully vested shares of Apple in addition to the 560,000 shares given in August 2020. This portion was worth approximately $280 million in February 2020 when Apple shares were trading at $320. When Apple reached $450 per share in August 2020, the value of that holding was $380 million.
Tim is the second-largest individual shareholder in the business. He owns around 0.02% of the corporation. Chairman of the board Arthur Levinson, who owns 1.1 million shares, is the largest individual shareholder. Since 2000, Levinson has been a member of the Board. The third largest individual shareholder is Senior VP of Software Engineering, Craig Federighi, who had 412,000 shares as of this writing.
Time received the tenth and last payment of the original compensation plan in August 2021. The shares he owned at the time were redeemed.
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Billionaire Status
In August 2020, following receipt of the ninth (and largest) performance stock grant of 560,000 shares, Tim Cook has formally deemed a billionaire.
Real Estate
Tim lives in a relatively small 2,400-square-foot home in Palo Alto, California, despite being one of the highest-paid business leaders in the world. He paid $1.9 million for the residence in 2010, the year before being appointed CEO.
Tim purchased a 10,000-square-foot property at the Madison Club, an exclusive gated neighborhood in La Quinta, California, for $10.1 million in 2018.
