Tim Cook

Tim Cook, the steady-handed CEO who turned Apple into the world's most valuable company, is stepping up to Executive Chairman in September 2026, closing a defining chapter in tech history.

By Alexandre Le Hégarat · datastats · Updated June 15, 2026

Tim Cook has been Apple’s CEO since August 2011, stepping into one of the most scrutinized seats in corporate history after Steve Jobs’s death. Born on November 1, 1960, in Mobile, Alabama, he studied industrial engineering at Auburn University before earning his MBA at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business. He is a true product of the American South who became a titan of Silicon Valley.

Before running Apple, Cook was its Chief Operating Officer, the logistics genius who rebuilt Apple’s supply chain from a leaky, inefficient mess into a finely tuned global machine. That operational mastery is arguably the unglamorous foundation on which Apple’s trillion-dollar valuation was built. While Jobs was the visionary showman, Cook was the person who made sure the products actually shipped.

As CEO, Cook’s signature moves included supercharging Apple’s Services business (App Store, Apple Music, iCloud, Apple TV+), making privacy a core brand pillar, and navigating brutal geopolitical headwinds between the US and China. Apple’s market capitalisation crossed the $3 trillion mark on his watch, a number that would have seemed like science fiction when he took the helm.

In April 2026, Apple announced a landmark succession: Cook will transition from CEO to Executive Chairman on September 1, 2026, handing the operational reins to John Ternus, the well-regarded hardware engineering chief. In his new role, Cook is expected to focus on institutional, regulatory, and political relationships, the kind of long-game diplomacy that increasingly defines Big Tech’s battles with governments worldwide.

Cook is also notable for being one of the most prominent openly gay executives in the Fortune 500, having publicly come out in a BusinessWeek essay in 2014. He has spoken candidly about how his identity shaped his sense of empathy and his views on civil rights, making him a significant public figure well beyond the tech industry.

People also ask

Cook is known to be based in the San Francisco Bay Area, close to Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, California. He is famously disciplined, reportedly waking before 4 a.m., and keeps his private address out of the public record, which is standard for executives at his level.

Tim Cook is American. He was born and raised in Mobile, Alabama, and has spent his entire professional career at major US corporations, most famously Apple.

Tim Cook was born on November 1, 1960, making him 64 years old as of mid-2026. He turns 65 in the autumn of 2026, right as he transitions to his Executive Chairman role.

Tim Cook is widely reported to be around 6 feet tall (approximately 183 cm). No official measurement has been published, but that figure is the consistent estimate across biographical profiles.

Cook's total compensation is disclosed annually in Apple's proxy statement filed with the SEC. His packages have historically run into the tens of millions of dollars per year, combining a base salary, cash bonuses, and substantial stock awards that vest over time. The precise current-year figure should be verified in Apple's latest proxy, as it changes annually.

No audited public figure exists for Cook's net worth. Estimates from outlets like Forbes and Bloomberg fluctuate significantly with Apple's stock price and his vesting schedule, but those are estimates, not verified fact. Stating a specific dollar amount as truth would be misleading, so we won't do it.

Cook grew up in Alabama and has referenced faith in interviews, but he has not made his specific religious affiliation a defining public talking point. He is far more publicly vocal about values like privacy, civil rights, and equality than about any particular religious identity. No confirmed denomination is on the record.

Apple files an annual proxy statement with the SEC that breaks down Cook's full compensation, base salary, performance bonus, and equity awards. His total pay has historically been in the range of tens of millions of dollars per year, with equity making up the largest share. Check Apple's most recent proxy for the exact current figure.

Cook has not publicly identified with a specific religion in a sustained, confirmed way. He has spoken broadly about values and empathy, but no denomination or faith tradition has been reliably reported as his. We won't guess on something he hasn't confirmed himself.

As of mid-2026, Tim Cook has not publicly announced that he is married. No spouse has been confirmed by Cook or reported by reliable outlets. His personal life remains largely private, and we won't speculate beyond what he has chosen to share.

Tim Cook has not publicly confirmed a husband. He came out as gay in 2014, but he has kept his romantic life intensely private since then. No partner has been officially named or confirmed.

Tim Cook has not publicly identified a boyfriend or partner. He is famously guarded about his personal life, a deliberate choice he has referenced himself. Any named individual circulating online would be unconfirmed speculation.

Tim Cook does not have a wife. He publicly came out as gay in October 2014 in a *BusinessWeek* essay, making it clear he is attracted to men. He has not confirmed any current relationship publicly.

Reliable outlets like Forbes and Bloomberg publish estimates, but these swing dramatically with Apple's share price and Cook's equity vesting. No independently audited net worth figure is publicly available, so any single number you see online is an estimate, not a fact. It is safe to say his wealth is substantial, built largely on Apple stock.

Apple's SEC-filed proxy statement is the authoritative source. Cook's total annual compensation has historically been in the range of tens of millions of dollars, heavily weighted toward performance-based stock awards rather than base salary. The base salary alone is a small fraction of his total pay.

Estimates vary widely and are tied directly to Apple's stock price on any given day. No verified, audited figure exists in the public domain. Forbes and Bloomberg publish estimates that have ranged into the billions of dollars, but treat those as informed guesses, not certified facts.

Yes. Tim Cook publicly came out as gay in October 2014 in a personal essay published in *BusinessWeek*. He wrote, 'I'm proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me.' It was a landmark moment, he became one of the most prominent openly gay CEOs of a major corporation in history.

Cook joined Apple in 1998 as Senior Vice President of Worldwide Operations and was promoted to COO in 2005. His core job was rebuilding Apple's supply chain, he slashed inventory, moved manufacturing to contract partners in Asia, and created the logistics backbone that made mass iPhone production possible. He also served three times as interim CEO during Jobs's medical leaves before being formally named CEO in August 2011, just weeks before Jobs died in October 2011.

No spouse has been publicly confirmed. As of mid-2026, Cook has not announced a marriage or civil partnership. He keeps his personal relationships entirely private, and nothing beyond that is reliably on the record.

By all credible accounts, yes, Jobs personally recruited Cook from Compaq in 1998 and promoted him multiple times, ultimately choosing him as CEO successor. Walter Isaacson's authorised biography of Jobs and numerous contemporaneous reports describe mutual respect, though they were temperamentally very different: Jobs the mercurial creative, Cook the composed operator. Jobs reportedly told Cook not to ask what he would have done, a sign he trusted Cook to lead in his own way.