37 Facts About Tim Cook

Tim Cook was appointed chief executive on August 24,2011, after Jobs, who had cancer, resigned and died later that year.

Since becoming CEO, Tim Cook has replaced Jobs's micromanagement with a more liberal style and implemented a collaborative culture at Apple.

Since 2011 when he took over Apple, to 2020, Tim Cook doubled the company's revenue and profit, and the company's market value increased from $348 billion to $1.9 trillion.

Tim Cook is on the boards of directors of Nike, Inc and the National Football Foundation; he is a trustee of Duke University, his alma mater.

Outside of Apple, Tim Cook engages in philanthropy; in March 2015 he said he planned to donate his fortune to charity.

In 2014, Tim Cook became the first and only chief executive of a Fortune 500 company to publicly come out as gay.

In October 2014, the Alabama Academy of Honor inducted Tim Cook, who spoke on the state's record of LGBT rights.

In 2012 and 2021, Cook appeared on the Time 100, Times annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Tim Cook was born on November 1,1960, in the city of Mobile, Alabama.

Tim Cook was baptized in a Baptist church and grew up in the nearby city Robertsdale.

Tim Cook graduated salutatorian from the public Robertsdale High School in Alabama in 1978.

Tim Cook received a Bachelor of Science with a major in industrial engineering from Auburn University in 1982 and a Master of Business Administration from Duke University in 1988.

Tim Cook closed factories and warehouses, and replaced them with contract manufacturers; this resulted in a reduction of the company's inventory from months to days.

Tim Cook's actions were recognized for keeping costs under control, and combined with the rest of the company, generated huge profits.

In January 2007, Tim Cook was promoted to lead operations and was chief executive in 2009, while Jobs, in failing health, was away on a leave of absence.

On October 29,2012, Tim Cook made major changes to the company's executive team.

Tim Cook made the executive changes after the third quarter of the fiscal year, when revenues and profits grew less than predicted.

On February 28,2014, Tim Cook made headlines when he challenged shareholders to "get out of the stock" if they did not share the company's views on sustainability and climate change.

In May 2016, Tim Cook traveled to China to meet with government officials there after the Chinese government closed Apple's online iTunes Store and Apple Books store.

In December 2017, Tim Cook was a speaker at the World Internet Conference in China.

Tim Cook was appointed chairman of the advisory board for Tsinghua University's economics school in October 2019 for a three-year term.

In 2016, Tim Cook signed a $275 billion deal with Chinese officials.

In 2015, Tim Cook said he donated to Democratic senators Chuck Schumer and Patrick Leahy for their stances on e-book pricing and surveillance reform, respectively.

In early March 2016, Tim Cook disclosed that he donated to the election campaign of Democratic representative Zoe Lofgren of California.

In September 2017 at Bloomberg's Global Business Forum, Tim Cook defended the DACA immigration program.

On January 20,2025, Tim Cook attended the standing room only second inauguration of Donald Trump inside the rotunda of the US Capitol.

Tim Cook is a fitness enthusiast and enjoys hiking, cycling, and going to the gym.

Tim Cook is known for being solitary, using an off-campus fitness center for privacy, and little is publicly shared about his personal life.

Tim Cook explained in October 2014 that he has sought to achieve a "basic level of privacy".

Tim Cook was misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1996, an incident he said made him "see the world in a different way".

Tim Cook has since taken part in charity fundraising, such as cycle races to raise money for the disease.

Tim Cook later told the Auburn alumni magazine that his symptoms came from "lugging a lot of incredibly heavy luggage around".

Tim Cook has said that in 2009 he offered a portion of his liver to Jobs, as they shared a rare blood type.

In 2015, Tim Cook was named to Duke University's board of trustees for a six-year term.

Tim Cook later delivered the university's commencement address in 2018.

In June 2014, Tim Cook attended San Francisco's gay pride parade along with a delegation of Apple staff.

Tim Cook hoped his openness could help LGBTQ youth dealing with homelessness and suicide hope that their situation could get better.