Steve Jobs will always be synonymous with Apple. But shareholders have made more money under his successor, Tim Cook, than with the visionary Apple co-founder. When business historians look back and consider the difference between Steve Jobs’ first and second stint as Apple CEO, one important factor in the success of the second was his COO – Tim Cook. The man who took care of the basics and allowed Steve to be a visionary.
This profile from GQ has Tim Cook discussing the future of Apple in his own words. First of all, a note on his morning ritual – getting up at 5am and reading every email that has come through to his publicly available email address – sounds like a terrible way to set yourself up for the day. Straight into the problems and complaints of others. But it does keep him close to customer feedback on Apple products.
This article was written before the release of Apple’s new headset. But even still it offers plenty of insight into where Cook sees Apple’s future – from services, to new devices and maybe even self-driving cars (emphasis on maybe). In an era where loud, celebrity CEOs dominate Silicon Valley, Tim Cook is a counterpoint. And maybe a role model for his cage-match fighting peers.
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