Steve Jobs has announced he will step down as Apple CEO until the end of June, citing “more complex” health issues as the reason behind his leave of absence. He’s leaving Apple’s Chief Operating Officer, Tim Cook, in charge while he’s gone. So who is he?
Read on, and find out everything there is to know about Cook, the man now tasked with filling the biggest shoes in the tech industry.
First things first: Tim Cook is a first class tech executive. Before joining Apple he was vice president of Corporate Materials for Compaq, before that he was COO of the Reseller Division at Intelligent Electronics and also spent 12 years with IBM, looking after manufacturing and distribution.
But it’s not purely tech that keeps Cook ticking: He’s also held positions on the board of Nike, and is a real fitness freak, cycling and running mainly.
Since joining Apple he has been in charge of the Mac maker’s supply chain. He keeps things running like clockwork, and quickly after joining saved the firm $359 million by pressuring component manufacturers to move their plants next to Apple, and keep inventory in their own stores, rather than Apple’s.
But he’s not just a nuts and bolts guy. He also heads up the Mac division of Apple and is as close to a Jobs-like character as Apple has. He’s hugely private, and has a mild mannered demeanor. Some have described his slow southern drawl as “disarming,” a lot like Jobs’ own mercurial “reality distortion field.”
In fact, when Jobs received treatment for pancreatic cancer in mid-2004, it was Cook who took the reigns at Apple.
Like Jobs, he’s frequently described as having a fierce attention to detail, and a memory so strong he rarely consults notes, instead recalling facts as if he’d just read them.
Unlike Jobs’ fearsome reprimands, Cook is known to handle his employees with a much gentler approach. Anecdotal reports include him handing out a toilet plunger to sales teams who underperform the most.
Of course, he’s absolutely loaded. And yes ladies, he’s single too!
Tags: Apple, CEO, COO, Steve Jobs, tim cook