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Tim Cook
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Tim Cook

Tim Cook led Apple as chief executive for 15 years and turned it into the world's most valuable company. He handed the role to John Ternus on September 1, 2026 and became executive chairman, focusing on Apple's engagement with policymakers worldwide.

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By · stats people · Updated September 7, 2026
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What people ask

People also ask

01

Where does Tim Cook live?

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.

02

What is Tim Cook's nationality?

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.

03

How old is Tim Cook?

Tim Cook was born on November 1, 1960 and is 65 years old. He turns 66 on November 1, 2026. He was 65 when he handed the chief executive role to John Ternus on September 1, 2026, after 15 years in the job.

04

How tall is Tim Cook?

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.

05

How much tim cook salary?

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.

06

what is tim cook net worth

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.

07

What religion does Tim Cook follow?

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.

08

What is Tim Cook's annual salary?

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.

09

What is Tim Cook's religion?

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.

10

Who is tim cook married to?

As of September 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.

11

Who is tim cook's husband?

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.

12

Who is tim cook's boyfriend?

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.

13

Who is tim cook's wife?

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.

14

What's tim cook's net worth?

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.

15

What's tim cook's salary?

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.

16

How much tim cook worth?

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.

17

Is Tim Cook a LGBTQ?

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.

18

What did Tim Cook do before Steve Jobs died?

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.

19

Does Tim Cook have a spouse?

No spouse has been publicly confirmed. As of September 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.

20

Did Steve Jobs and Tim Cook get along?

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.

21

Is Tim Cook still the CEO of Apple?

No. Tim Cook stepped down as chief executive on September 1, 2026, after 15 years, and was succeeded by John Ternus. Cook did not leave the company: he became executive chairman, a role in which he assists with certain aspects of Apple, notably engagement with policymakers around the world. His final day as CEO was August 31, 2026. Source: Apple Newsroom.

22

Who replaced Tim Cook as Apple CEO?

John Ternus, who had run Apple's hardware engineering division as senior vice president since 2021. Ternus joined Apple in 2001, became a vice president in 2013, and worked on the iPad and AirPods before leading the M-series Apple Silicon transition. Apple's board appointed him on April 17, 2026, and he took over on September 1, joining the board of directors the same day. Sources: Apple Newsroom, Al Jazeera.

23

Why did Tim Cook step down as CEO?

Apple framed it as the completion of a long, deliberate succession process rather than a departure forced by events, and the board's vote was unanimous. Cook was 65, had run the company for 15 years, and stayed on as executive chairman rather than leaving. The announcement came on April 17, 2026, almost five months before the handover, an unusually long runway consistent with planned succession. Sources: Apple Newsroom, Al Jazeera.

24

What does Tim Cook do now?

He is Apple's executive chairman. Apple describes the role as assisting with certain aspects of the company, in particular engaging with policymakers around the world. In practice that keeps Cook on the regulatory, geopolitical and institutional side, the long-game diplomacy that increasingly defines Big Tech, while Ternus takes the operational and product decisions. Source: Apple Newsroom.

Background

Tim Cook ran Apple as chief executive for 15 years and handed the role to John Ternus on September 1, 2026. 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 product of the American South who became a titan of Silicon Valley.

He joined Apple in 1998 as senior vice president of worldwide operations, recruited personally by Steve Jobs from Compaq, and was promoted to chief operating officer in 2005. His original contribution was the supply chain: he cut inventory drastically, moved manufacturing to contract partners in Asia, and built the logistics machine that made mass iPhone production possible. He served three times as interim CEO during Jobs’s medical leaves before being named chief executive in August 2011, weeks before Jobs died that October.

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 October 2014 he came out as gay in a BusinessWeek essay, becoming the most prominent openly gay chief executive of a major corporation and a significant public figure well beyond the tech industry.

The handover to John Ternus

Apple’s board appointed John Ternus chief executive on April 17, 2026, with the change taking effect on September 1. Cook’s last day in the role was August 31. He remained at Apple as executive chairman, where he assists with certain aspects of the company and in particular engages with policymakers around the world, while Ternus, a hardware engineer who spent 25 years inside Apple, took over products and operations.

The division of labour is the point of the arrangement. Cook keeps the political and institutional relationships he spent 15 years building, at a moment when regulation is one of Apple’s largest open risks. Ternus inherits the engineering problems: silicon, on-device artificial intelligence, and the first genuinely new iPhone form factor in almost a decade.

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