Tim Cook

Timothy Donald Cook (born November 1, 1960) is an American business executive, industrial engineer and developer. Cook is the Chief Executive Officer of Apple Inc., previously serving as the company's Chief Operating Officer, under its founder Steve Jobs.

Born in Alabama on November 1, 1960, Tim Cook graduated from Auburn University with a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering in 1982, and went on to earn an M.B.A. from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business in the late '80s. Following a 12-year career at IBM, in 1994, Cook became a chief operating officer (Reseller Division) at Intelligent Electronics. He then worked for Compaq as vice president of corporate materials, procuring and managing product inventory. After six months at Compaq,

Cook joined Apple in March 1998 as senior vice president of worldwide operations and then served as Executive Vice President of worldwide sales and operations. He was made Chief Executive on August 24, 2011. During his tenure as the Chief Executive he has advocated for the political reformation of international and domestic surveillance, cybersecurity, corporate taxation both nationally and abroad, American manufacturing, and environmental preservation.

Cook left his position and took a job at Apple. In August 2011, Cook was named Apple's new CEO, taking over the position for former CEO and Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who died in October 2011 after a years-long battle with cancer.Tim Cook was born Timothy D. Cook in the small town of Robertsdale, Alabama, on November 1, 1960. The middle of three sons born to father Donald, a shipyard worker, and mother Geraldine, a homemaker, Cook attended Robertsdale High School, and graduated second in his class in 1978. He then enrolled at Auburn University in Alabama, where he graduated in 1982 with a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering, and went on to earn a Master of Business Administration degree from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business in 1988. There, Cook earned the title of Fuqua Scholar—an honor given only to students at the the business school who graduate in the top 10 percent of their class.

In 2014, Cook became the first Chief Executive of a Fortune 500 company to publicly identify as gay. Cook also serves on the boards of directors of Nike, Inc. and the National Football Foundation. In early 2012, he was awarded compensation of one million shares, vesting in 2016 and 2021, by Apple's board of directors, and in March 2015, he said he planned to donate his entire stock fortune to charity.