Tim Cook: Epic Leadership

WHEN TIM COOK took over Apple shortly before Steve Jobs’ death in 2011, there was a general foreboding. Would he be able to fill the shoes of the most influential tech pioneer in recent history? Fifteen years later, as he steps down from the post, the assessment will be kind. Cook may not have been a Jobs, introducing the kind of path-breaking devices the latter was known for, but under him, Apple entered its most profitable phase. Cook transformed Apple from a $350 billion tech firm into a global behemoth that is today worth $4 trillion. He also changed how modern tech firms operate, with supply chains that stretch from China and India, where products are assembled and manufactured, to retail outlets across the world. And when having such a spread-out operation became a liability under the Trump presidency, Cook proved more than adept at navigating politically choppy waters, tactfully handling the firm’s relations with Washington DC and Beijing.

The one drawback that is often held against him is that he did not produce the kind of transformative devices that Jobs did. While that is largely true, Cook did leave his own mark with devices like the Apple Watch and AirPods. That criticism also overlooks how Cook expanded Apple’s services business, which today through an ecosystem of apps and software integrated into its products is a consumer empire in its own right, not to mention its foray into streaming through Apple TV+.

While Apple remains in exceptional financial health, there are concerns over it being left behind in the AI race. Cook didn’t just manage what was arguably the toughest act to follow with aplomb, he took Apple ahead in many ways. His successor will now have to meet those standards and take Apple into the AI age.