Not Much Is Known About Apple’s CEO Tim Cook. Here Are 15 Things Most People Don’t Know About Him.
Let’s get the elephant out the room. Tim Cook is … a billionaire. And yes, he’s gay.
Right, now that we’ve covered that, we have 15 way more interesting things to share you with about the current CEO of Apple Inc.
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1
Who Is Tim Cook and Who Does He Get Advice From?
Hand picked by Steve Jobs to take over the role of CEO of Apple, Tim Cooks is also the man who was behind Apple becoming the first publicly traded U.S. company to hit $2 trillion in market value in 2020. This was 2-years after the company hit $1 trillion in market value.
The significant increase has been credited to Covid, where Apple stock was up nearly 60%.
To compare Apple to other well-known companies:
Amazon’s market cap is roughly $1.7 trillion, Microsoft at $1.6 trillion and Alphabet at $1 trillion.
Cook gets his advice from the crème de la crème –Warren Buffet, Bill Clinton, Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs, Laurene Powell Jobs, Founder of Emerson Collective and Anderson Cooper, CNN anchor.
2
Cook Is a “Green Believer.”
When it comes to greens, Tim Cook not only enjoys eating them – but he’s passionate about going green globally.
In one annual meeting, he told climate change sceptic investors to, “ditch their stocks if they do not support his pledge to slash greenhouse gas emissions.”
In 2020, in his speech for the 5th Anniversary of the Paris climate agreement, he put forward that it’s completely doable to be an environmentally conscious company while still making a profit.
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3
He Calls B*llshit on, ‘if You Love What You Do, You Will Never Work a Day in Your Life’
Tim Cook loves what he does, but the saying ‘If you love what you do, you will never work a day in your life’ he believes is total crock.
As published on cnbc.com, Cook says when you find a job you are passionate about, you will work hard, but you won’t mind doing so. You will work harder than you ever thought possible, but the tools will feel light in your hands.”
Currently, a project that is bringing him great joy is Apple TV +. Cook has been invited on set of “For All Mankind,” and is 100% enthusiastic about it.
Do you think Apple could take on Netflix? We were keen to find out, so watch our video, “Can Apple Take on Netflix in The Streaming Wars?” to see if you believe they can.
4
He’s a Firm Believer in Privacy – in Apple and His Personal Life
In January 2021, Cook spoke at the Computers, Privacy & Data Protection conference as part of Data Privacy Day.
He felt that privacy was as important as climate change and that both would have profound impact on future generations. He was concerned that if people knew they were being monitored all the time, what would they stop doing.
He said, “What changes do you then make in your own behaviour? What do you do less of? What do you not do anymore? What are you not as curious about anymore if you know that each time, you’re on the web, looking at different things, exploring different things, you’re going to wind up constricting yourself more and more and more and more? That kind of world is not a world that any of us should aspire to.”
Regarding his private life, we know little barring that he’s unmarried, has no children, oh and loves to watch ‘For all humanity.’
5
Apple Has Bought Out Small Businesses Every 3 to 4 Weeks
Tim Cook and Apple, have been rather busy over the past 6-years – buying out a small business every few weeks.
This news was presented to shareholders on 23 February at the shareholders annual meeting.
Bbc.com reported that Cook explained the acquisitions were mostly aimed at “acquiring technology and talent.”
Here are a few examples of some of the big buys:
– Beats Electronics for $3 billion
– Shazam for $400 million
– Chinese ride-hailing service Didi Chuxing – $1 billion stake in the company.
To stay on top of the game, Cook needs to focus on his fitness – and here’s how he does it.
6
His Fitness Regime Is of Absolute Importance to Him
Cook obviously wants to keep fit, but one of the driving forces behind his fitness routine was his misdiagnosis of MS.
Multiple Sclerosis is a hard one to diagnosis. In Cook’s case, he was diagnosed when he was just 36. Multiple sclerosis is a disabling disease of the brain and spinal cord and it affects individuals differently.
When Cook got his diagnosis, he was thrown, but it made him see and acknowledge the world completely differently. He started donating to charity and raised millions for various charities. He also became fixated on his health and fitness, opting for cycling, hiking and rock climbing whenever and wherever he could.
7
Cook Is Excellent at Saving Money and Is Considered Frugal
There’s a book called Haunted Empire: Apple After Steve Jobs, written by Yukari Iwatani Kane – which you can listen to on audible.com.
The book highlights various aspects of his personality, including labelling him inapproachable, icy with a “detached management style.” Good points included “calm and composed” and “ruthless in his execution.”
It went further to call him, “relentlessly frugal” with “inhuman stamina.”
When Steve Jobs persuaded Cook to join Apple in 1998, the company was almost bankrupt. And look at it today, as mentioned, the company hit $2 trillion in market value.
Coming up – why Cook’s vision is for you to use Apple products less…
Want to get some more inspiration for saving money? Check out 10 Ways Rich People Save Money.
8
He Is a Workaholic, Sending His First Emails off at 4.30am
Cook has proclaimed that he is a workaholic and gets up at 4am every morning, and by 4.30am is responding to emails. He probably needs all that extra time, because he receives up to 800 emails a day! After that, he hits the gym and by 6.30am, he’s at the office.
Not only is he the first to arrive, but he’s also the last to leave and then he does it all again.
Apparently, even Steve Jobs was so worried about Cook and his lack of social life that he called Cook’s mom to chat about it!
9
Future of Apple With Cook
So, Aluxers, what does Tim Cook envision for the future of Apple? Would you believe us if we said, to use Apple products less?
Here’s what he says, “We do not want people using our products too much… we want to create them in such a way people get the most out of them in short periods of time to free themselves up to do whatever it is that they want to do.”
10
What Does He Spend His Money On?
Tim Cook has a net worth of $1 billion, but despite that, doesn’t spend a lot. According to businessinsider.com, he “buys his underwear at Nordstrom’s semi-annual sale.”
Cook doesn’t earn as much as other CEOs from big corps. In 2017, he ranked 71 on America’s highest paid CEOs, according to consulting platform Equilar. One of the obvious reasons is the lack of funding equity in Apple.
This doesn’t deter him from still giving his all to Apple.
Reports suggest that he gives away most of his fortune to philanthropic causes.
11
He Sits on the Board of Directors for Nike
And just when you thought that Cook really didn’t have any extra time, he still sits on the board of directors for Nike.
In 2016, Nike announced that Phil Knight, their chairman, had retired from the board of directors. Mark Parker took over the additional position.
Nike recruited Tim Cook as their lead independent director of the board. He had already been a director since 2005.
Nike and Apple have always been close. There was Nike+ on Apple’s portable devices, Apple created playlists called “Nike Sport Mixes” and if there’s a tech product in a Nike commercial, it’s usually an Apple product.
12
Why the Feud Between Facebook and Apple?
We’ve mentioned Cook’s stance on privacy, both on apple and privately – and recently, a war of words has emerged between Mark Zuckerberg and Tim Cook.
Cook quoted, “An inter-connected eco-system of companies and data brokers, of purveyors of Fake News and pedlars of division, of trackers and hucksters just looking to make a quick buck, is more present in our lives than it has ever been.”
Is it safe to assume he’s referring to Facebook? We think so, and with Facebook being in the limelight with privacy issues, Apple is ready to give its users transparency in their privacy.
There are two things that will happen:
– Privacy Nutrition Label – Every app in the App Store needs to inform people on their data collection and privacy practises, in a way that is simple to understand by everyone.
– App Tracking Transparency – This will show users which apps requested permission to track data and gives them the option to block them.
The feud is set to continue, with Cook commenting, “Too many are still asking the question, ‘How much can we get away with?’, when they need to be asking, ‘What are the consequences?”
13
Is Tim Cook a Better CEO Than Steve Jobs Was?
Forbes.com highlights a book that confirms Tim Cook is a better CEO than Jobs was. The book, by Leander Kahney, is called Tim Cook: The Genius Who Took Apple to the Next Level.
Steve Jobs relyed heavily on Cook when he was battling with cancer. Cook stood in several times, and despite the two being completely opposite in temperament with little in common, barring rock n roll from the 60s, were able to work well together.
14
Cook Has Helped Ease Hostilities Between the Us and China
22-year-old Chinese student, He Shijie, had an 18-minute chat with Tim Cook in an effort to appease young consumers. Shijie has 6 million followers on Chinese video site Bilibili, and the interview has been viewed millions of times.
The video was released at the right time, as hostilities between Beijing and Washington seem to be subsiding after Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden discussed repairing US-China relations.
Apple relies on the Chinese market for growth and the interview was well-received in China. As adjunct faculty instructor at New York University Shanghai, Cameron Johnson puts it, “Apple is using this peaceful moment not only for marketing, but also using Chinese social media to connect with consumers of Apple products.”
15
A Phone That Will Be Bigger Than an iPhone
Cook confirmed that Apple were currently working on a phone that would be bigger than the iPhone.
There’s apparently a new patent suggesting that Apple is looking into technology that allows a phone display, “with a 60Hz default refresh rate to operate at up to 240Hz,” according to bgr.com.
And Cook knows the iPhone is great, but he is so keen to incorporate more health and wellness into the products. The Apple Watch, for example, is credited for saving lives. A Georgian man with blood clots claims the watch saved his life, and a runner was alerted of heart problems he didn’t even know he had.
So, we’ll just have to hurry up and wait – because this teaser sounds like it’s worth waiting for!
Question:
What do you believe Cook could do to improve the overall working of Apple? Or do you feel that he’s doing an excellent job as CEO? We’d love to hear your thoughts, Aluxers.
