Apple CEO Tim Cook on The David Rubenstein Show

Summary

Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, is interviewed about his life and career. He discusses growing up in Alabama, working at IBM and Compaq, and joining Apple in 1998 at Steve Jobs' request. He talks about succeeding Jobs as CEO in 2011, continuing Apple's focus on innovation and the user experience. Cook addresses topics like privacy, equality, immigration, and trade policy in a meeting with President Trump. Despite leading Apple, Cook maintains a modest, self-effacing demeanor.

Takeaways

• 👨‍💼 Tim Cook was inspired to join Apple by Steve Jobs' innovative thinking and willingness to challenge conventional wisdom.
• 📱 The iPhone has been an incredibly successful product, with over 1 billion sold so far.
• ⌚️ The Apple Watch can detect heart problems and has saved lives through its alerts.
• 📈 Apple is focused on long-term innovation rather than short-term profits.
• 💻 Tim Cook transformed Apple's operations early on by outsourcing manufacturing.
• 🏢 Steve Jobs envisioned Apple Park as a collaborative workspace.
• 🧠 Tim Cook values equality highly and believes it could help solve many world problems.
• 👪 Tim Cook publicly disclosed he is gay to help kids who feel ostracized.
• 💰 Apple has amassed a huge cash reserve and is spending some on new campuses and stock buybacks.
• 🇺🇸 Tim Cook advised President Trump on trade and immigration policy.

Q & A

How did Steve Jobs' thinking and approach inspire Tim Cook to join Apple?

Steve Jobs was willing to challenge conventional wisdom and take Apple in innovative new directions that others were abandoning, which inspired Tim Cook to join the company.

What makes the Apple Watch a potentially life-saving product?

The Apple Watch can detect irregular heart rhythms and other heart problems, and it provides alerts that motivate people to seek medical attention early.

How has Tim Cook transformed Apple's operations?

Early in his tenure at Apple, Tim Cook oversaw a shift to outsourcing manufacturing to partners instead of trying to do large-scale manufacturing internally.

What was Steve Jobs' vision for Apple Park?

Steve Jobs envisioned Apple Park as a collaborative workspace where people would often run into each other and exchange ideas randomly and spontaneously.

Why does Tim Cook believe strongly in equality?

Tim Cook believes equality is key to solving many world problems. He thinks lack of equality leads to lack of education, discrimination, and more.

Why did Tim Cook publicly reveal he is gay?

Tim Cook revealed he is gay to help kids who feel ostracized for being gay see they can still succeed in life.

What is Apple doing with its huge cash balance?

Apple is spending some of its cash on new campuses and offices and on buying back its own stock.

What subjects did Tim Cook discuss when meeting President Trump?

Tim Cook discussed trade policy and immigration with President Trump, advocating for free trade and a solution for Dreamers.

How did Steve Jobs originally envision the relationship when handing over the CEO reins?

Steve Jobs expected to remain as Chairman indefinitely when first stepping down as CEO, overseeing Tim Cook in an ongoing capacity.

How does Tim Cook maintain a modest demeanor as Apple CEO?

Tim Cook says Apple's high expectations and standards mean he never feels successful for long, keeping him grounded.

Outlines

00:00

🤝 Introductory conversation between Jobs and Cook.

Paragraph 1 provides an introductory overview of the conversation between Jobs and Cook. It highlights Jobs' unconventional thinking and passion that sparked Cook's interest. Cook was drawn to Apple despite advice not to join, viewing it as a pivotal life decision.

05:01

👨‍💻 Cook's background and early career leading to Apple.

Paragraph 2 details Cook's background growing up in Alabama and studying engineering at Auburn. He worked at IBM and Compaq before getting a call from Jobs to join Apple in 1998. Friends thought it was risky, but Cook was compelled by Jobs' vision and spark.

10:05

🏭 Cook's operations role and close working relationship with Jobs.

Paragraph 3 covers Cook's initial operations role at Apple and the liberating creative freedom enabled by Jobs. Despite concerns, Jobs' health declined and Cook was announced as CEO in 2011. Their close partnership allowed seamless continuity of vision.

15:07

📱 Development and success of the revolutionary iPhone.

Paragraph 4 focuses on the launch of the hugely successful iPhone in 2007. Cook highlights Jobs' passion in unveiling it as a game-changing product. Over a billion iPhones have now been sold globally.

20:08

💰 Cook on Apple's values, privacy, equality and amassing cash reserves.

Paragraph 5 discusses Cook's values-driven leadership on privacy, equality and human rights issues. He also explains Apple's strategy around its huge cash reserves, investing in the US and buying back stock.

Keywords

💡Innovation

Innovation refers to the introduction of new ideas, devices, or methods. In the video, Tim Cook discusses how Apple focuses on innovation in terms of creativity, user experience, and making bold moves against conventional wisdom. He credits Apple's culture of innovation as key to its long-term success. Examples include developing the iPhone when competitors moved away from consumers, and integrating advanced healthcare sensors into the Apple Watch.

💡Privacy

Privacy is the ability to keep personal information and data secure or secret. Cook emphasizes Apple's stance on privacy as a fundamental human right. He states Apple collects minimal customer data, encrypts it, and considers privacy alongside liberties like freedom of speech. Cook frames privacy as an American value under threat that Apple aims to protect.

💡User experience

User experience refers to how easy, enjoyable, and intuitive it is for a person to use a product. Cook says Apple obsesses over user experience details like simplicity and design. He credits a focus on user experience as a key driver of Apple's success. Examples include creating products customers 'love' and personally reading user emails.

💡Values

Values are principles or standards considered important by a person or company. Cook discusses how values like privacy, equality and education guide Apple's corporate direction. He ties promoting human rights values to making the world better. Cook also describes sacrificing his own privacy to promote equality and human rights.

💡Equality

Equality is the state of being equal in status, rights and opportunities. Cook argues inequality in areas like education, discrimination and intolerance causes many global problems. He positions equality as a moral imperative and links efforts like supporting LGBTQ rights to improving society. Cook says Apple can impact equality via policies and public stances.

💡Education

Education refers to the acquisition of knowledge, skills and development of character. Cook cites access to quality education as a major factor in life outcomes. He implies education is a force for equality and social mobility. Cook also highlights the importance of educating users for goals like health, as with Apple Watch heart monitoring features.

💡Culture

Culture represents the beliefs, customs and behaviors of a group. Cook credits Apple's open, innovative, risk-taking culture as key to its ability to disrupt industries. He contrasts the bureaucracy and infighting that plagues many companies with Apple's flat structure that allows bold ideas to move forward.

💡Mission

A mission is an important goal or purpose. Cook frames Apple's corporate mission as creating great products that enhance lives and change the world. He believes focusing on Apple's mission of empowering users delivers better results than chasing short-term profits demanded by Wall Street.

💡Environment

The environment encompasses living and non-living things occurring naturally. Cook says Apple aims to better the environment via steps like using 100% renewable energy at facilities. He positions environmental responsibility as important to Apple's values and mission.

💡Partnership

A partnership is a cooperative relationship between groups or individuals working toward a shared goal. Cook discusses Apple partnerships that brought complementary strengths together. Examples include deals with IBM for enterprise expertise early on, and manufacturing partners like Foxconn for scale later.

Highlights

Steve Jobs had a sparkle in his eye Cook had never seen in a CEO before.

Cook was drawn to Apple because Jobs was doubling down on consumers when conventional wisdom said to focus on enterprise.

Cook says Jobs could greenlight big, unconventional ideas if they resonated with him.

Cook credits his loving family and good public school for his success.

Cook was shocked when Apple Watch outsold original iPhone.

Cook gets emails from Apple Watch users who discovered health issues and got treated.

Cook reads customer emails to stay connected to users.

Cook came out publicly to promote equality, especially for LGBTQ kids.

Cook told Trump tariffs are the wrong approach and talked immigration.

Apple will build a new $30B campus and hire 20,000 more in the US.

Cook's parents treated him the same after he became CEO.

Cook focuses on policy over politics, so won't run for president.

Cook credits Apple's high expectations for his modest, self-effacing style.

Cook removed his tie in honor of chatting with Buffett tie-less.

Cook believes he can make the biggest difference staying at Apple.

Transcripts

[Music]

you get a call from Steve Jobs

there was a sparkle in his eye that I'd

never seen in a CEO before did your

friends tell you this was not a good

idea

they thought it was not Warren Buffett

still uses an old flip phone I told him

that I'll personally cut all Mahal to do

tech support for you exposed your own

personal life a bit I thought I'm making

the wrong call why was it called the

Apple watch and not the iWatch I kind of

like to have a watch what do you think

well you're the CEO so would you fix

your time please well people wouldn't

recognize me if my tie was fixed but

okay just leave it this way all right I

[Music]

don't consider myself a journalist and

nobody else would consider myself a

journalist I began to take on the life

of being an interviewer even though I

have a day job of running a private

equity firm

how do you define leadership what is it

that makes somebody tick

quite a reception you got here I thought

it was for you no it's for you you've

now been the CEO of Apple since been

July of 2011 the earnings are up about

80 percent so have you ever thought you

can't do better than this and maybe you

should just say well I've done a great

job and now I'm going to do something

else with my life

we viewed the the stock price and

revenues and profits as a result of

doing things right on the innovation

side on the creativity side focusing on

the right products treating customers

like their jewels and and focusing on

the user experience I didn't even know

the numbers that you just quoted this is

not something that I it's not even in my

orbit to be honest with you well so when

you announce your quarterly earnings

analysts always say well they didn't

sell as much Metra this product is that

we thought they would and so where does

that bother you

it did it one time it doesn't anymore

the we run Apple for the long term and

and so it's always struck me as bizarre

that there's a fixation on how many

units are sold in a 90 day period is

we're making decisions that are

multi-year or kind of kind of decisions

and so we try to be very clear that we

do not run the company for people that

want to make a quick buck we run the

company for the long term well one of

the shareholders who recently surfaces

having bought 75 million additional

shares is Warren Buffett are you pleased

to have him as her shareholder I'm

overjoyed I'm thrilled because Warren is

focused on the long term and and so

there is we're in sync it's the way we

run the company it's the way he invests

and yeah so I could not be happier have

you thought about this Warren still uses

an old flip phone I know he has

have you thought how much more your

stock could go up if you actually use

the product

I'm I am working on it and I told him

that I'll personally come out on the

haul to do tech support for so you now

in a building that was designed and

inspired initially by Steve Jobs Apple

part Apple Park and if you've moved in

recently Steve had the vision that the

workplace should facilitate people

working together having these common

areas that people could work together

and run into each other without planning

on doing it and at the level of ideas

and creativity and innovation that would

come out of that would would be

phenomenal and we're seeing that you're

convinced standing up working is better

than sitting down we have given an all

of our employees hundred-percent

standing gaps if you can stand for a

while and then sit and and so on and so

forth this is much better for you about

how you came to this position so you

grew up in Alabama a very very small

rural town between Pensacola and Mobile

on the Gulf Coast

and you grew up where you up star

athlete or your star scholar where you a

tech nerd what were you whether I would

say I was a star anything I worked hard

at school I had some reasonably good

grades the benefit I got in my childhood

was being in a family that was a loving

family and a public school system that

was good and you know that's a huge

benefit and honestly a benefit that many

many kids don't have these days he went

to Auburn and how did you do there I did

I did pretty good I did pretty good I

really got into engineering in a big way

and and Industrial Engineering

so then you went to work for IBM I did

yes I started as like a production

engineer out designing manufacturing

lines and at that time robotics were

beginning to take off and and so we were

we were focused on automation I wouldn't

say we successively focused on it but I

learned a lot from going through that as

well so you were there for about 12

years and then you joined another

company called compact yes so you're a

compact which at the time I think was

one of the biggest manufacturers of

personal computers they were they were

the number one at the time yeah so

you're there for about six months and

you get a call from Steve Jobs or

somebody working for him saying can you

come and join Apple Apple was modest

compared to compact why did you take the

interview and why did you join Apple

yeah it's a good question Steve had had

come back to the company and was

essentially replacing the executive team

that that was there at the time but I

thought you know this is an opportunity

to talk to the guy that started the

whole industry and Steve met me on

Saturday and it was like just minutes

into talking with him I want to do it

which I was totally shocked myself but I

there was a there was a sparkle in his

eye that I'd never seen in a CEO before

and there was he he was sort of turning

left when everyone else is turning right

it was almost it almost done everything

that he talked about he was doing

something extraordinarily different than

conventional wisdom many people were

abandoning the consumer market because

they were just it was a bloodbath

Steve was doing the exact opposite he

was doubling down on consumer at the

time everybody else the conventional

wisdom said go put your money in storage

and servers and I thought it was

brilliant and so with talking with him

and and the type of questions he asked

were all so different

and you know I I did literally before

the I left everything he I hope he

offers me a job really want to do this

did your friends tell you this was not a

good idea they thought it was nuts they

thought it was nuts again conventional

wisdom was you're working for the top

personal computer maker in the world

why would you ever leave you have got a

great career head and there was it

wasn't a decision that you could kind of

sit down and do the engineering kind of

analysis saying here are the pluses and

here the minuses because that analysis

would always say stay clogged it was

this sort of voice in your head that was

saying go west young man go west

I'll despite the fact that there was no

state income tax in Texas and there

raising a California you're still said

you're gonna go west so in hindsight

this was the best professional decision

of your life I assume may be the best

decision of my life I'm not sure you

need to put professional in that Steve

health was such that he couldn't

continue to be the CEO I thought

honestly my my thought at that time was

he was going to be chairman and he would

do that forever and it you know

unfortunately it didn't turn out that

way

[Music]

so you go there and what is your job at

Apple running worldwide operations and

the company that time was struggling in

many different areas and operations

isn't there different our economies of

scale didn't lend itself to us doing

manufacturing and in different places

like we like existed in a company at

that time and so we found partners that

were expert manufacturing and we

maintained the sort of the intellectual

knowledge of how the process and

obviously all of the design of the

problem when you got there and you're

working for her Steve was it better than

you thought

worse than you thought more challenging

than you thought I found it to be

liberating is the way I would describe

it because it's you could you could kind

of talk to Steve about something very

big and if it resonated with him he

would just say ok and you could do it

and so it was like a you know like a

total revelation for me that a company

could run like this because I was used

to these layers and bureaucracy and

studies and you know studying things

sort of the paralysis that companies can

get into and Apple was totally different

than that I realized that if I couldn't

get something done I could just go to

the nearest mirror and look at it and

that was the reason Steve health was

such that he couldn't continue to be the

CEO he told the board that and you were

announced as the CEO I think around July

of 2011 something around there when you

became the CEO did you feel you had

Steve would say here's what I was

interested in doing and you fulfill my

goals or did you feel you had your own

view on what you should do and how did

you balance the two you're succeeding a

legendary figure it's not so sequential

as that

we have a really open company and so

most of us could finish the other

person's sentences even when we might

disagree with them and so it wasn't a

matter of Steve having this secret file

or something he was always sharing his

ideas all the time and so so you're very

different than that and I thought

honestly my my thought at that time and

I know people people have told me you're

just not very smart but my view at that

time was he was going to be chairman and

he would do that forever and we would

figure out the you know the sort of the

relationship that changed there and

that's what I thought and it you know

unfortunately it didn't turn out that

way today Apple is going to reinvent the

phone you have product that is the most

successful consumer product in the

history of mankind which is the iPhone

there was a sense that it was a profound

product it was a game-changer if you go

back and watch the keynote that Steve

announced it you can feel his passion in

it and the way the way he described I

still remember it like it was yesterday

so how many iPhones have now been sold

oh well over a billion so there are

seven half billion people in the face of

the earth so one of every seven people

has one more or less well some people

probably bought more than one along

oh I hope so anyway well well you do

have new ones coming out every so often

you know is that if I buy a new iPhone

should I expect another one in two years

or you should expect that Apple is going

to keep innovating and and you should

jump on the train now though okay

because because life is so short up here

and I have my iPhone here actually and I

do use it and I love it and one time

with you and I were in China I couldn't

quite work something and I asked you to

help me and you said look I normally

don't do Texas nice and it did work we

came out with the Apple watch not too

long ago why was it called the Apple

watch and not the eyewash because you

have iPhone iPod iPad why not I watch

did you ever think of that

and I'm sure you must have thought of it

I'm sure it's on a novel idea but I'm

just curious it was something that we

thought of it wasn't a crazy question so

no it wasn't a crazy question at all and

some Apple watch one out well I kind of

like the Apple watch what do you think

well you're the CEO so Heyman CEO says

something okay so how are they doing

they're doing fantastic

cellular is now on the watch you don't

have to travel with your iPhone you can

just use your watch one of the my best

moments of a day is to go through my

emails that are from users and I get so

many each week from people that found

out they have a heart problem from their

watch it's alerting you if you've been

sitting and your heart has climbed to a

level that doesn't make sense

relative to the activity that you've

been doing suppose you don't want to

know if you have a heart problem

well we think most people do because you

can then go seek help and seriously

David so many people have written and

said the watch alerted me to a problem

I took an action and went to the

cardiologist he told me that if I had

not gone there I wouldn't be alive so

you say you go through your emails

nobody emails you directly I can't I

assume you can oh sure they do

well you how could you could respond all

those email I can't but but it doesn't

mean that I can't read a fair number of

those myself because I think it's

important to sort of keep your hands on

the pulse of the user have you ever

thought that maybe you could run for

president in the United States because

I think you know you know the president

is something that you'd love to to be

president but not ever wrong and and

that should never happen in our country

and so that kind of eliminates pace

today let's talk about some of the

values that you've been espousing one is

a privacy we see privacy is a

fundamental human right and and so it's

to us it's right up there with some of

the other civil liberties that make

Americans what they are you know it

defines us as Americans and we see that

this is becoming a larger and larger

issue for people and so our our tax on

this is we we take a minimum amount of

data from customers only that which we

need to to provide a great service and

then we work really hard to protect it

with encryption and and so forth and

you've also talked about the importance

of equality yeah why is that important

to you as I look at the world many of

the problems of the world come down to

the lack of equality it's the it's the

fact that it's the kid that's born in

one-zip code who doesn't have a good

education because they happen to be born

in that zip code it's someone that is

maybe an LGBT community that is fired

because of that it's someone that has a

different religion than the majority and

therefore they're ostracized in some way

and some very simply I think if one day

you could wave a wand and everybody in

the world would treat each other with

dignity and respect there are many many

problems that would would go away with

that

so you exposed your own personal life a

bit you you know the privacy that you've

said other

we should have you kind of gave up some

of your privacy why did you do that well

I did it for a greater purpose is that

it became clear to me that there were

lots of kids out there that were not

being treated well including in their

own families and and that kids need

someone to say oh they did okay in life

and they're gay so it must not be a life

sentence in some kind of way and when I

were getting these nodes it would tug on

my heart even more and it got to the

point where I thought I'm making the

wrong call by trying to do something

that is comfortable for me which is to

stay private that I needed to do

something for the greater good and so

that's why no never grabs

now you're obviously in the public eye

recently you had a meeting with the

president Trump what was the meeting

with President Trump like you know I

wouldn't want to say what he said what I

talked about was I talked about trade

and the importance of trade and how I

felt that two countries trading together

make the pie larger and that it's true I

think undoubtedly true that not everyone

has been advantaged from that in in

either country and we've got to work on

that but I I felt that tariffs were not

the right approach there and I showed

him some more of analytical kinds of

things to demonstrate why we also talked

about immigration and the importance of

fixing the dreamer issue now you know

we're only one Court ruling away from a

catastrophic case there so do you think

you made progress on these issues I hope

so and I hope so Apple has roughly 260

billion dollars of cash more or less

what do you do with that cash we're

going to create a new site a new campus

within the United States we're gonna

hire 20,000 people and so we're gonna

spend 30 billion in capex over the next

several years and so we're what number

one we're investing in investing a ton

in this country we're also going to buy

some of our stock because we view our

stock is a is a is a good value so your

did your parents live to see your

success my mother passed away three

three years ago and my but my father's

still alive so your mother was in it

your mother lived to see you be the CEO

she did and that she say well you're

great I always knew your be successful

and can you help me with my iPhone can

you

well I did get both of them on iPad and

I finally convinced my father to start

using iPhones and so but they honestly

they treat me like they did 20 years ago

in 40 years ago six years ago he calls

with tips about what to do or tell you

how to do things or now if I do

something doesn't think as good he tells

me about it hey I saw you on that show

you aren't very good I'm hoping you edit

this well you're obviously a pretty

public figure you were not before have

you ever thought that maybe you could

run for president of United States

because you know you've seen the

president up close I'm not political

right I I loved focusing on the policy

stuff but in the dysfunction kind of in

in in Washington between the the

legislative branch and and so forth I

think that I can make a bigger

difference in the world doing what I'm

doing and I appreciate the comment but I

think yeah you know the president is

something that you'd love to be

president but not ever run and and that

should never happen in our country and

so that kind of eliminates me of all the

CEOs that I know that have run major

companies you are the lowest ego kind of

most self-effacing person that I've seen

in this kind of position so have you

ever noticed that you're different than

the other people are CEOs and and how do

you maintain this self-effacing kind of

modest demeanor when you're running the

biggest company in the world what would

you when you work at Apple there's a

high expectation on everyone to perform

and to contribute and because of that

high bar and you never quite get there

including the CEO

including every job in there and so I'd

never feel that way very long if I ever

felt that way well thank you for taking

the time today and I'd say having me

you're the first person I've interviewed

without a tie on and so I was in your

honor and I bet you sleep in a tie

[Applause]

[Music]