Profile of Tim Cook, CEO of Apple Computer

Steve Jobs passed away and the world lost a business icon.  Apple Computer’s $390 billion market capitalization makes it the most valuable company in the world, having surpassed that of Exxon-Mobil this year. Apple has changed the way the planet thinks.

When Steve Jobs formally stepped down as CEO this past August, Tim Cook assumed the title of CEO.  Cook had held this position intermittently when Jobs had previously had health issues but the passing of the baton was now official. 

The $64 billion questions are: who is Tim Cook, what kind of leader is he and what impact will he have on the company in the years ahead? 

One thing is for sure.  Absent a colossal failure, he is likely to be with the company for many years.  On the day of his appointment, the Board granted him one million restricted stock units, half of which will vest in five years and the balance five years later. At $420 a share, the math is not complicated.

Tim Cook will turn 51 this November and his career path reflects a focus on operations, sourcing and logistics.  His CV reads like the man who gets things done but not as the one who dreams up new products.

A native Alabaman, Cook graduated with a degree in industrial engineering from Auburn University and receiving an MBA from Duke in 1988.  Cook worked for 12 years at IBM, prior to and after business school, his last position as Director of North American Fulfillment.  He  also held positions at Intelligent Electronics Inc. as Chief Operating Officer of their Reseller Division and then VP for Corporate Materials at Compaq Computer, responsible for all parts procurement and logistics. Cook joined Apple in 1998 as Senior VP for Worldwide Operations and became Chief Operating Officer in 2005. 

Cook’s compensation has been heavily skewed to restricted stock awards, encouraging a long term management approach.  In 2010, his total compensation was $59 million of which $52 million represented stock awards. 

Cook sits on one outside Board, Nike, having been a member since 2005.  Per Nike’s proxy statement, “Mr. Cook was selected to serve because his operational executive experience and his knowledge of technology, marketing, and international business allow him to provide the Board with valuable perspectives and insights.” 

The Wall Street Journal profiled Cook in 2006 and the picture that emerges contrasts with that of his former boss.  While Jobs is portrayed as autocratic, Cooks is described as “low-key”, “quiet” and “courtly”.  

Industry analysts have mixed views on the new boss.  Mordechai Beizer, a Managing Director at Gupton Marrs, the technology consulting firm, sees continuity and no major outside expansion.  Beizer notes “Cook has an operations background, not mergers and acquisitions.  Also, he's basically been running the company on and off during the last eight years. There is no reason to believe that he is going to do things drastically differently.”  Steven Brand, an Apple aficionado and the CEO of Sidecastr, a tablet application venture, is concerned about Cook's ability to inspire.  "The challenge for Cook is going to be earning the trust and loyalty that Apple employees had for Jobs that translated into superhuman performance.”  

Brand concludes, “people killed themselves to perform brilliantly enough to get noticed by Jobs. That's never going to happen at the same level for Cook. Best he can hope for is to convert loyalty to Jobs into loyalty to Apple”.