Pre-Apple era After graduating from Auburn University, Cook spent twelve years in
IBM's personal computer business, ultimately as director of North American
fulfillment. During this time, Cook also earned his MBA from Duke University, becoming a Fuqua Scholar in 1988. Later, he was the
chief operating officer of the computer reseller division of Intelligent Electronics. In 1997, he became the vice president for corporate materials at
Compaq, but took up his position at Apple six months later.
Apple era Early career In 1998,
Steve Jobs asked Cook to join Apple. In a
commencement speech at
Auburn University, Cook said he decided to join Apple after meeting Jobs: His first position was senior vice president for worldwide operations. 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. Predicting its importance, his group had invested in long-term deals such as advance investment in
flash memory since 2005. This guaranteed a stable supply of what became the
iPod Nano, then
iPhone and
iPad. Competitors at
Hewlett-Packard described their cancelled
HP TouchPad tablet computer and later said that it was made from "cast-off, reject iPad parts". Cook's actions were recognized for keeping costs under control, and combined with the rest of the company, generated huge profits. at the
2012 World Wide Developers Conference In January 2007, Cook was promoted to lead operations and was chief executive in 2009, while Jobs, in failing health, was away on a leave of absence. In January 2011, Apple's board of directors approved a third medical leave of absence requested by Jobs. During that time, Cook was responsible for most of Apple's day-to-day operations, while Jobs made most major decisions.
Apple chief executive After Jobs resigned as CEO and became chairman of the board, Cook was named the new chief executive officer of Apple on August 24, 2011. Six weeks later, on October 5, 2011, Jobs died due to complications from
pancreatic cancer.
Forbes contributor Robin Ferracone wrote in September 2011: "Jobs and Cook proceeded to forge a strong partnership, and rescued the company from its death spiral, which took it from $11 billion in revenue in 1995 down to less than $6 billion in 1998 ... Under their leadership, the company went from its nadir to a remarkable $100 billion today". On October 29, 2012, Cook made major changes to the company's executive team.
Scott Forstall resigned as senior vice president of
iOS after the poorly received launch of
Apple Maps, and became an advisor to Cook until he eventually departed from the company in 2013.
John Browett, who was senior VP of retail, was dismissed six months after he commenced at Apple, and given 100,000 shares worth US$60 million. Forstall's duties were divided among four other Apple executives: design SVP
Jony Ive assumed leadership of Apple's human interface team;
Craig Federighi became the new head of iOS software engineering; services chief
Eddy Cue became responsible for Maps and Siri; and
Bob Mansfield, previously SVP of hardware engineering, became the head of a new technology group. Cook made the executive changes after the third quarter of
fiscal year 2012, when revenues and profits grew less than predicted. Forstall's resignation was widely seen as a dismissal, allegedly caused by Cook's desire to reduce "rivalries between executives", and drew criticism, as Forstall had been seen as a possible successor to Cook. In May 2013 Cook shared that his leadership focused on people, strategy, and execution; he explained, "If you get those three right the world is a great place." Under Cook's leadership, Apple increased its donations to charity, and in 2013 he hired
Lisa Jackson, formerly the head of the
Environmental Protection Agency, to assist Apple with the development of its renewable energy activities. In August 2021, Cook received an approximate $750 million payout, selling more than five million shares in Apple, ten years after becoming CEO. As CEO of
Apple, Cook met U.S. House members on December 10, 2025 to push back against a federal legislation that could require Apple to authenticate users' ages and possibly collect sensitive data on children. Apple announced on April 20, 2026, that Cook will step down as CEO on September 1, 2026, and will take the role of
Executive Chairman. This initiative was decided from a multi-year succession plan from Apple.
John Ternus, currently Apple's
Senior Vice President of
hardware engineering, will then take over as CEO. ==Political positions and affiliations==