Robert Galbraith/Reuters
On August 24th, 2011, Tim Cook took the job as CEO of Apple, leaving many wondering if he could fill the massive void left by his friend and mentor, Steve Jobs.
Today, five years later to the day, Apple is the most valuable company in the world, and products like the iPhone continue to rule the market, leaving Cook looking pretty good.
But when he was first announced for the role, he was a big question mark. He's a quiet guy who had long stayed in the background at Apple, while Jobs did the big product releases and the press tours.
What a lot of people don't know is that Apple would never have gotten where it is without Cook's help early on in Jobs' reign — if not for Cook's expertise and willingness to do what needed to be done, Apple would have been sunk.
Here's how Tim Cook rose through the ranks, became a major leader in the reinvention of Apple, and ended up at the helm of the most-watched company in the world.
Timothy Donald Cook was born in Mobile, Alabama, on November 1, 1960. He grew up in nearby Robertsdale, where he went to high school.Robertsdale high school yearbook via AL.comHis father, Donald Cook, was a shipyard worker. His mother, Geraldine Cook, worked at a pharmacy.Wikimedia Commons
In 1982, Cook graduated from Alabama's Auburn University with a degree in industrial engineering.Auburn University
In 1982, right out of Auburn, Cook joined IBM in its still new PC division — before Microsoft Windows was even a thing. He'd rise to become the director of North American fulfillment.@darth
In 1996, Cook was misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis, something he says made him view the world in a different way. Since then, he's been a big contributor to charity, and even does bike races for good causes.Screenshot
It turns out the diagnosis was just because he'd been lugging around too much baggage — literally.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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