Tim Cook never wanted to be like Steve Jobs: ‘I've tried to be best Tim Cook I can be’
Tim Cook reflects on his transition to CEO of Apple, noting that Steve Jobs personally requested he take the role to ensure a professional leadership handover. Cook emphasizes his desire to lead in his own style rather than mimicking Jobs.
Why it matters
Provides historical context on the leadership transition of one of the world's most valuable companies.
Tim Cook recently handed the Apple CEO role to John Ternus and transitioned to executive chairman. Amid this change, an old interview clip surfaced online showing Cook recalling the moment Steve Jobs summoned him to discuss becoming the next CEO. Cook said that Jobs called him on an August weekend in 2011 and it was unusually urgent. Jobs asked to speak immediately, telling Cook that after careful reflection, he was determined to make the first orderly, professional chief executive handover in Apple’s corporate history. Jobs told Cook bluntly: he wanted him to take the helm as CEO right away.“When he called me one weekend, in August of 2011, he said, ‘I'd like to talk’. And I said, ‘Okay and I go, When? and he goes, “Now”. And he told me, “I've been thinking a lot. Apple's never had a professional transition at CEO.
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