30 Interesting Facts About Tim Cook – Chief Executive Officer of Apple

Timothy Donald Cook, an American business executive, developer and an industrial engineer, has been advocating cybersecurity, environmental preservation and political reformation of international as well as domestic surveillance, since taking over as the Chief Executive of Apple Inc. Here are 30 facts about him:

1. Cook has been serving as the Chief Executive Officer of Apple Inc, since August 24, 2011. He is the seventh CEO of the company.
2. He was born on November 1, 1960 to Donald and Geraldine in Mobile, Alabama, United States. His father was a shipyard worker while his mother worked at a pharmacy.
3. He is mostly known for being solitary and little to nothing is known about his personal life. In 2014, he explained about his solitary that he wants to have a “basic level of privacy.”
4. He worked for 12 years in the IBM’s personal computer business, after his graduation in the year 1982 from Auburn University with Bachelor of Science in industrial engineering. His last position in the company was as director of North American fulfillment.
5. In the year 2012, he was included in the Time’s annual list of “100 Most Influential People in the World.”
6. In October 2014, Cook was inducted in to the Alabama Academy of Honor, which is said to be the highest honor the state of Alabama gives its citizens.
7. He is the first Chief Executive Officer on the Fortune 500 list to be publicly identified as a gay.
8. Before Apple, he was the Chief Operating Officer in Intelligent Electronics, and even served for six months at Compaq as the Vice President for Corporate Materials.
9. As a CEO of Apple, it is reported that he starts sending emails to the staff members at 4:30 a.m., in preparation of the day’s schedule.
10. In 1996, he was misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis, which is an incident; he claims to have made him see the world from a different perspective. Since the said incident, he has been taking part in various charity fundraisings to raise money for the disease.
    
11. He claims that his leadership strategy focuses on people, strategy, and execution as he explains that if those three are correct, then the entire world is a great place.
12. In the year 1998, he joined Apple as Senior Vice President of Worldwide Operations. In his role, he reportedly closed factories and warehouses, replacing them with contract manufacturers, which led to reduction of the inventory from months to just days. His actions helped in keeping costs under control.
13. He is a fitness enthusiast, who enjoys cycling, hiking and uses an off-campus fitness center.
14. He serves on the board of directors of the National Football Foundation as well as Nike, Inc.
15. Cook donated to the Californian Democratic representative Zoe Lofgren’ election campaign in the early March 2016.
16. About joining Apple, he once said in a commencement speech at Auburn University that he decided to work for Apple, leaving Compaq, against the advices of all the people who knew him, within five minutes into the initial meeting with Steve Jobs.
17. He is said to be known for his Sunday-night meetings with his staffs, where the entire team will prepare for the next week’s schedule.
18. In the year 2015, he revealed that he has plans to donate his entire stock fortune at Apple worth about $120 million to charity.
19. During the 2015 election cycle, Cook hosted a fundraiser in support of Senator Rob Portman.
20. It is reported that the donations to various charities from Apple has seen a significant increase under Cook’s leadership.
    
21. He donated to the Barack Obama’s first White House election in the 2008-2009 election cycle.
22. He had been serving as acting Chief Executive at Apple since 2009, before taking on the role in 2011, during the absence of Jobs due to health related issues. It was reported that in January 2011, during the third medical leave of Jobs, Cook was responsible for all the day-to-day operations, though it was Jobs who made the most important decisions.
23. He publicly revealed his sexual orientation as gay, on October 30, 2014 in an editorial for Bloomberg Business, claiming it to be one among the greatest gifts bestowed on him by God.
24. In the year 2014, the Financial Times named Cook as the Person of the Year, which is awarded to a person who is considered to have demonstrated considerable influence in the given year.
25. In an effort to assist the development of renewable energy activities in Apple, he hired Lisa Jackson, the former head of the Environmental Protection Agency, in 2013.
26. He claims that when Steve Jobs was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, he offered a portion of his liver, since he shared a rare blood group with Jobs. He said that Jobs yelled at him for his offer saying “I’ll never let you do that. I’ll never do that.”
27. In 2016, in an open letter, Cook denounced the government’s demands such as a custom iOS firmware to circumvent the iPhone’s security features and another request to assist in unlocking an iPhone 5C, stating that these constitutes a “breach of privacy.”
28. He donated to the Democratic senators Patrick Leahy in the year 2015, for his stance on surveillance reforms. He also donated to Senator Chuck Schumer in regards to his stance on eBook pricing.
29. He along with Paul Ryan, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, hosted a private fundraiser in the early June 2016, which was said to be aimed at “helping to elect other House Republicans.
30. In 2015, the Fortune Magazine, named Cook as the “World’s Greatest Leader.”
31. Bonus: Tim Cook Net Worth: $785 million