Apple’s share keeps rising, driving the company Steve Jobs co-founded 44 years ago in his parents’ California home on the cusp of hitting a historic stock-market milestone: a market value of $2 trillion. Apple is more valuable than ever, and so is its CEO, Tim Cook, a newly-minted billionaire, with a “B.”
Anders Melin and Tom Metcalf for Bloomberg:
Cook, meantime, has joined one of the most elite clubs for CEOs who didn’t actually found the companies they run: his net worth has eclipsed $1 billion, according to calculations by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Cook’s net worth estimate is based on an analysis of regulatory filings and applying the market performance of a typical wealthy investor to his proceeds from share sales. Cook, 59, said in 2015 that he plans to give most of his fortune away and has already gifted million of dollars worth of Apple shares. His wealth could be lower if he’s made other undisclosed charitable gifts.
Josh Rosenstock, a spokesman for Apple, declined to comment.
Even the pandemic, which has hammered many other parts of the economy, has been a boon to Apple and other big tech companies as people have gotten even more reliant on their products and services.
Their recent success stands in contrast to the economic upheaval caused by the coronavirus: a growing string of bankruptcies, tens of millions unemployed and massive public deficits.
I was worth about over $1 million when I was 23, and over $10 million when I was 24, and over $100 million when I was 25, and it wasn’t that important. I never did it for the money. — Steve Jobs
Isn’t it kind of funny? You know, my main reaction to this money thing is that it’s humorous, all the attention to it, because it’s hardly the most insightful or valuable thing that’s happened to me. — Steve Jobs
I saw a lot of other people at Apple, especially after we went public, how it changed them. A lot of people thought they had to start being rich. A few people went out and they bought Rolls-Royces, they bought homes, and their wives got plastic surgery. I saw these people who were really nice, simple people turn into these bizarre people. I made a promise to myself: I said, ’I’m not going to let this money ruin my life. — Steve Jobs
My favorite things in life don’t cost any money. It’s really clear that the most precious resource we all have is time. — Steve Jobs