With the news program thatSteve Jobs will take another aesculapian leave of absence of absencefrom the company he helped found more than 30 years ago , Apple will miss its most recognizable public expression . But the man tasked with filling in for Jobs ’s day - to - daylight tariff should be a familiar fount to most Apple watchers .
Chief operating ship’s officer Tim Cook hold up the reigns from Jobs during the CEO ’s medical parting . It ’s a conversant role for Cook , who joined Apple 13 years ago . This is his third time in the Jobs - void hot seat — he acted as interim CEO in 2004 , when Jobs underwent treatment for pancreatic cancer , and again for the first one-half of 2009 when Jobs received a liver transplant .
Why does Apple keep turning to Cook ? The answer is twofold : His resume , and his track record .
wire oncedescribedTim Cook as “ [ a ] quiet , delicate - spoken , low-pitched - key executive director , ” and “ the yin to Jobs ’s yang . ” He ’s 50 - years - old , holds a degree in industrial technology from Auburn University , and an MBA from Duke University .
Cook left Compaq in 1998 to join Apple as its older frailty president of operations , and steady rose through the ranks until he was present his current title of chief operating officer in 2005 . He ’s credited with reinvent Apple ’s approach to inventory supply chains , keeping in - need products in stock , and managing the carefully - timed button of raw ones . Prior to Compaq , he worked at IBM and Intelligent Electronics .
During Jobs ’s six - calendar month parting in 2009 , Apple ’s descent under Cook ’s leadership rose 67 percent , allot to CNN . In fact , Apple ’s board of director — in a move nominate by Steve Jobs himself — rewarded Cook with a $ 22 million bonus for his work in Jobs ’s absence ; that works out to about $ 3.6 million each month he filled in for his boss . ( With those incentive , Cook ’s full compensation neared $ 60 million for 2010 . )
While Cook ’s work ethic and detail - oriented creative thinker are frequently glorify , some analysts have questioned whether — despite his undergraduate excogitation degree and geezerhood at Apple — he miss the design chop that Jobs brings to the table . “ Tim Cook ’s the guy who makes the string run on time , ” say Roger Key of Endpoint Technology Associates in a 2009 interview withMacworldthe last time Apple turned to Cook . “ He ’s not the creative brilliance … Even though in some sense he is an excellent manager and is the catcher for Steve … that ’s not going to do anything except make the train run on sentence . That ’s not live to adjudicate what the power train should look like in five long time . ”
CNN , however , quote Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi as saying , “ There is a wad of obedience for Tim Cook internally at Apple and externally , and he has proved to be able-bodied to drive the company well . ”
Of course , asMacworldhas explain in the yesteryear , Apple is n’t run by Steve Jobs corral a team of lackeys . While job ’s share are obviously many , Cook gave this lengthy answer when asked about Jobs ’s health on an earnings call in January 2009 :
There is an sinful largeness and astuteness and tenure among the Apple administrator team . And these executives result over 35,000 employee that I would call all “ wicked smart . ” And that ’s in all surface area of the company , from engineering , to marketing , to cognitive process , sales , and all the rest .
And the value of our fellowship are passing well - entrenched . You know , we trust we ’re on the face of the Earth to make great product , and that ’s not changing . We ’re constantly focusing on innovating . We consider in the simple , not the coordination compound . We believe that we take to own and control the primary technology behind the products that we make , and participate only in markets where we can make a significant contribution . We conceive in say no to yard of projects , so that we can really focus on the few that are truly important and meaningful to us . We trust in deep collaborationism and hybridization - pollinization of our mathematical group , which allows us to innovate in a way others can not . And frankly , we do n’t go down for anything less than excellence in every group in the company , and we have the self - honesty to admit where we ’re awry , and the courage to change .
And I think disregardless of who is in what job , those values are so plant in this company that Apple will do extremely well . And I would just retell a point Peter made in his first step comment , that I powerfully believe that Apple is doing the best work in its account .
Cook ’s drive for excellence at Apple is perhaps no better meditate than in this choice titbit from aprofile on him inFortuneheadlined “ The genius behind Steve . ”
… [ Cook ] convened a coming together with his squad , and the give-and-take wrick to a particular problem in Asia . “ This is really bad , ” Cook told the group . “ Someone should be in China driving this . ” Thirty minutes into that meeting Cook looked at Sabih Khan , a primal operation executive director , and abruptly asked , without a trace of emotion , “ Why are you still here ? ”
Khan , who stay one of Cook ’s top lieutenants to this day , immediately stand up , drive to San Francisco International Airport , and , without a change of clothes , booked a flight of steps to China with no return date , according to people conversant with the installment . The story is vintage Cook : demanding and unemotional .
Should Steve Jobs by selection or requisite ever want a full - time replacement at Apple , it will of course be the board ’s conclusion to decide who should fill his black turtleneck . But with Tim Cook take over now for the third metre in seven years — and his ordered cartroad criminal record when call upon thus far — one might expect that Apple ’s future is already in safe hired man .
Disclaimer : The author owns a small number of parcel in Apple .
