How Apple Became a $4 Trillion Company Under Tim Cook

THE NEW YORK TIMES: If the Steve Jobs era was defined by technological innovation, the Tim Cook period was one of exceptional financial growth.

When Tim Cook took over Apple in 2011, leaders from Silicon Valley to Wall Street predicted that the company’s best days were behind it. They feared that without Steve Jobs, Apple’s innovative chief executive, the company would falter.

They were wrong.

Over 15 years, Mr. Cook has engineered Apple’s rise from a Silicon Valley darling worth $350 billion into a cash-generating giant worth $4 trillion. The company’s annual revenue quadrupled, and its profits rose fourfold. The iPhone became ubiquitous, the Apple Watch proliferated, and the company developed credit cards and TV shows.

Apple’s growth is a testament to how Mr. Cook turned the iPhone into one of history’s best-selling products. Introduced by Mr. Jobs in 2007, the iPhone started the smartphone revolution, changing the way people work, socialize and travel. But Apple was selling only 72 million iPhones a year when Mr. Jobs died and Mr. Cook took over.

Two years later, Mr. Cook struck a deal with China’s largest wireless company, China Mobile. By the end of that year, Apple had more than doubled the number of iPhones it sold, and China was cementing itself as the company’s largest market after the United States. » | Tripp Mickle and Karl Russell | Tripp Mickle reported from San Francisco, and Karl Russell from New York. | Tuesday, April 21, 2026

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Ingénieur, champion de natation... Qui est John Ternus, l’homme qui va succéder à Tim Cook à la tête d’Apple ?

LE FIGARO : PORTRAIT - Cet ingénieur quinquagénaire, entré dans le groupe californien en 2001, a vu ses missions évoluer en 2025 et a été davantage mis en avant dans les conférences d’Apple.

De l’ombre à la lumière. Depuis l’automne dernier, son nom est sur toutes les lèvres dans la Silicon Valley. John Ternus, vice-président senior de l’ingénierie produit d’Apple, va succéder en septembre prochain à Tim Cook à la tête du groupe, selon un communiqué de la firme publié lundi soir.

Après quatorze ans à la tête de la firme à la pomme, celui qui avait succédé en 2011 à Steve Jobs quelques mois avant sa disparition va donc passer le flambeau à la fin de l’été 2026. Tim Cook va devenir président du conseil d’administration. » | Par Keren Lentschner | lundi 20 avril 2026

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Tim Cook Will Step Down as Apple C.E.O.

THE NEW YORK TIMES: The longtime leader of the iPhone maker will be replaced by John Ternus, the company’s head of hardware engineering.

Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, said on Monday that he would step down after nearly 15 years running an operation that rode the wild popularity of the iPhone to become one of the most influential and valuable companies in the world.

Mr. Cook, 65, will move into a new role as Apple’s executive chairman in September and be succeeded in the company’s corner office by John Ternus, the 50-year-old head of Apple’s hardware engineering.

The retirement of Mr. Cook will end one of the most successful management runs in the history of American business. During his tenure, Apple’s annual profit quadrupled to more than $110 billion, while its value ballooned more than tenfold to $4 trillion.

Mr. Cook replaced the Apple co-founder Steve Jobs shortly before Mr. Jobs’s death in 2011, having earned a reputation for perfecting the nuts and bolts of a global consumer electronics business. Apple has since defined how a modern technology company operates, with products assembled in a supply chain that stretches from the giant operations that Mr. Cook helped create in China to India and Brazil and a popular retail business that operates on five continents. » | Kalley Huang and Tripp Mickle | Reporting from San Francisco | Monday, April 20, 2026

Apple Pulls Data Protection Tool after UK Government Security Row | BBC News

Feb 21, 2025 | Apple has removed its highest level data security tool from customers in the UK after the government demanded access to user data.

Advanced Data Protection (ADP) means only account holders can view items such as photos or documents they have stored online through a process known as end-to-end encryption.

But earlier this month, the UK government asked for the right to see the data, which currently not even Apple can access.

Now the tech giant has decided it will no longer be possible to activate ADP in the UK. It means eventually not all UK customer data stored on iCloud - Apple's cloud storage service - will be fully encrypted.

UK Demands Access to Apple Users' Encrypted Data

BBC: The UK government has demanded to be able to access encrypted data stored by Apple users worldwide in its cloud service.

Currently only the Apple account holder can access data stored in this way - the tech giant itself cannot view it.

The demand has been served by the Home Office under the Investigatory Powers Act (IPA), which compels firms to provide information to law enforcement agencies.

Apple declined to comment, but says on its website, external that it views privacy as a "fundamental human right".

Under the law, the demand cannot be made public.

The news was first reported by the Washington Post, external quoting sources familiar with the matter, and the BBC has spoken to similar contacts.

The Home Office said: "We do not comment on operational matters, including for example confirming or denying the existence of any such notices."

Privacy International called it an "unprecedented attack" on the private data of individuals.

"This is a fight the UK should not have picked," said the charity's legal director Caroline Wilson Palow.

"This overreach sets a hugely damaging precedent and will embolden abusive regimes the world over." » | Zoe Kleinman, Technology editor | Friday, February 7, 2025

2011: Apple Co-founder Steve Jobs Dies

HISTORY.COM — ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY: On October 5, 2011, Steve Jobs, the visionary co-founder of Apple Inc., which revolutionized the computer, music and mobile communications industries with such devices as the Macintosh, iPod, iPhone and iPad, dies at age 56 of complications from pancreatic cancer.

Born on February 24, 1955, in San Francisco, California, to unmarried graduate students Joanne Schieble and Abdulfattah Jandali, a Syrian immigrant, Jobs was adopted as a baby by Paul Jobs, a Silicon Valley machinist, and his wife Clara. After graduating from high school in Cupertino, California, in 1972, Jobs attended Reed College, a liberal arts school in Portland, Oregon, for a single semester before dropping out. He later worked briefly for pioneering video game maker Atari in California, traveled to India and studied Zen Buddhism. » | History.com Editors | Saturday, October 5, 2024

Apple: The Biggest Tax Cheaters in History Repatriate Profits Under Trump’s Tax Bill

What Apple did was outright illegal according to the European Union, but instead of taking legal action against Apple for tax evasion, the Trump tax bill will reward them says white-collar criminologist Bill Black

Inside Story - Has Ireland Given Illegal Tax Incentives to Apple?

Britain Would Welcome Apple After Tax Case Issues With EU

Apple has already announced that it will appeal the European Commissions' ruling that the company owes 13 billion euros in back-dated taxes. And now the UK has opened the door for Apple to invest its business in post-Brexit Britain. For more on this I am joined live by RT's Laura Smith.

Apple's Tim Cook Defends Company in US Senate
Tim Cook tells US Senate hearing that Apple does not use 'tax gimmicks' to avoid paying more taxes.

Apple Worth More Than Any Company in History
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Apple was worth more this afternoon than any company had ever been, as its share price inflated on rumours of new products and took its total value to a record high.

Apple's share price hit $664.74 at its peak today, giving it a market capitalisation - the total value of all its tradeable shares - of $622.5bn.

The previous record for market capitalisation was set by technology giant Microsoft in December 1999, just before the dot-com bubble burst, when it reached $616.3bn.

Apple usurped oil producer Exxon as the world's most valuable company in January after announcing record quarterly results on strong iPhone sales. The two businesses had previously leap-frogged each other to the distinction as their shares fluctuated, but Apple now stands clear as the most valuable company in the world, both currently and historically. » | Matthew Sparkes | Monday, August 20, 2012

A Golden ‘Golden Handshake’ for New Apple Boss
MAIL ONLINE: The former boss of PC World and Currys will reportedly receive a $56million (£36million) golden hello from Apple after taking charge of its retail arm.

John Browett was awarded the hefty payout from the technology giant following its poaching of him from Dixons Retail in February.

The payment, which will be staggered over five years and paid in shares, is likely to fuel the debate even further over executive pay.

The decision to set Mr Browett's salary so high comes after a series of shareholder revolts elsewhere, in which investors have overwhelmingly voted to reject company's pay reports. But boards have insisted that they must offer strong incentives in a bid to recruit the best talent and remain competitive.

The Sunday Times [£] reported that Mr Browett's annual package will be at least seven times his take-home pay at Dixons, according to documents filed with America's stock market watchdog.

The generous salary is not the first time Apple has been willing to spend vast sums on retaining or attracting senior staff. That's one heck of a welcome! New Apple boss to be handed extraordinary £36million 'golden hello' after being poached from Dixon » | Tom Goodenough | Sunday, May 27, 2012

THE TIMES: Browett has struck golden shot at Apple » | Murad Ahmed | Monday, May 28, 2012 [£]

US Government Sues Apple in E-book Scandal
The US Justice Department is suing technology company Apple and five book publishers for price fixing. The Department apparently has evidence of meetings between book publishing CEOs involved in negotiating prices amongst themselves, and of the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs laying out a blatant price fixing plan. The publishers are accused of significantly raising e-book prices above those of their competitors, with Apple scooping up a hefty share of the profits. Rob Reynolds reports from the Apple headquarters in Cupertino, California.

Apple Makes $13bn Profit in Three Months
THE GUARDIAN: First quarter since death of Steve Jobs sees record revenue with 37m iPhones sold

Apple reported record revenue in its first quarter since the death of Steve Jobs, as iPhone sales continued to soar.

For the three months to December 31, Apple reported net income of $13.06bn compared to net income of $6bn for the same period the previous year. » | Dominic Rushe in New York | Tuesday, January 24, 2012

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Apple is world's most valuable company after iPhone frenzy drives record profits: Apple has regained its position as the world's most valuable company after reporting record quarterly results that smashed market expectations. » | Harry Wilson | Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Steve Jobs' Official Cause of Death Released
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Steve Jobs, the co-founder and CEO of Apple, died of respiratory arrest caused by a pancreatic tumour, according to the death certificate.

Jobs died last Wednesday at his home in Palo Alto, California, at about 3pm, according to the certificate, which lists "respiratory arrest" as the immediate cause of death with "metastatic pancreas neuroendocrine tumour" as the underlying condition that caused the respiratory problem.

No autopsy was performed on Jobs, who was listed as an entrepreneur in the high tech industry with "some college" education on the certificate released by the Santa Clara County Public Health Department.

Jobs died at the age of 56, surrounded by his wife and immediate family. » | Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Small Private Funeral for Steve Jobs at Unidsclosed [sic] Location
THE AUSTRALIAN: THE funeral for Apple co-founder Steve Jobs [1955 – 2011] is taking place today, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The funeral is characterised as a small private gathering, this person said. The person wouldn't say where or when the event was taking place, citing respect Jobs and his family's privacy.

The event comes two days after Mr Jobs died after battling an undisclosed illness. He previously underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer and had a liver transplant. » | The Wall Street Journal | Saturday, October 08, 2011

APPLE.COM: Share your thoughts, memories, and condolences »

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Steve Jobs: The Secular Prophet – Steve Jobs turned Eve's apple, the symbol of fallen humankind, into a religious icon for true believers in technology. But can salvation be downloaded? » | Andy Crouch | Saturday, October 08, 2011

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Mossberg: The Steve Jobs I Knew » | Walter S. Mossberg | Thursday, October 06, 2011

Das Leben eines Revolutionärs

Steve Jobs, Architect of Apple, Dies
THE BOSTON GLOBE: Steve Jobs, the demanding visionary who understood before anyone else how deeply we would live our lives through our devices, died today at the age of 56, only weeks after resigning as chief executive of computer giant Apple Inc. as he battled pancreatic cancer.

“The world has lost an amazing human being,” wrote Apple chief executive Tim Cook in a message to employees. “Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.”

Jobs was “among the greatest of American innovators,” said President Obama in a statement posted on the White House blog. “There may be no greater tribute to Steve’s success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented.”

Jobs revitalized Apple by transforming smartphones, computers, and media players into objects of desire. He insisted the company put the human experience first, focusing on design as well as technological prowess. Fifteen years ago, Apple flirted with bankruptcy; today, it is one of the most successful companies on earth.

Jobs’s rival, Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates, issued a statement saying, “The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had.”

Gates closed his statement by writing, “I will miss Steve immensely.” » | Hiawatha Bray | Globe Staff | Thursday, October 06, 2011



LE FIGARO: «L'Amérique a perdu un génie» : «Un visionnaire», «un génie dont on se souviendra comme d'Edison et d'Einstein»: les hommages de grands patrons, d'hommes politiques et de milliers de fans d'Apple pleuvent après l'annonce de la disparition de Steve Jobs. » | Par Mathilde Golla, Chloé Woitier | Jeudi 06 Octobre 2011

LE FIGARO: Steve Jobs, le culte de la perfection : Le patron d'Apple, décédé mercredi à l'âge de 56 ans, a guidé son entreprise vers les sommets grâce à une gestion particulièrement stricte de ses équipes. » | Par Benjamin Ferran | Jeudi 06 Octobre 2011



FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE: Steve Jobs ist tot: Der Tod des Apple-Mitbegründers Steve Jobs hat Trauer und Bestürzung ausgelöst. Der Computer-Visionär starb am Mittwoch im Alter von 56 Jahren. Er hinterlässt seine Frau und vier Kinder. » | Roland Lindner | New York | Donnerstag 06. Oktober 2011

FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE: „Leider ist der Tag gekommen“ : Steve Jobs tritt als Apple-Chef zurück. Gebannt blicken wir auf das abwechslungsreiche Leben des Apple-Gründers und fragen: Wird man schon zum Genie geboren? » | Von Hendrik Ankenbrand | Donnerstag 06. Oktober 2011

Steve Jobs: His Life and Career
Technology editor Charles Arthur looks back at the career of the driving force behind Apple, Steve Jobs. He was the single-minded visionary who revolutionised three industries: computers, film and music.

Jobs simplified complicated things by making the customer's needs paramount, bringing cutting edge technology into globally popular consumer products

THE GUARDIAN: Steve Jobs obituary: Computing entrepreneur and inventor, and the co-founder, chairman and recognisable face of Apple » | Jack Schofield | Thursday, October 06, 2011

Steve Jobs's Apple Legacy May Not Be So Sweet at the Core

THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD: No sooner had Steve Jobs resigned than the process of his canonisation began. Genius, visionary, even revolutionary were some of the epithets used to describe the man who took Apple from the brink to the world's most valuable company.

Yet, once the hyperbole is stripped away, it may be that he was merely the man who made us fall in love with pretty gadgets, and made Apple shareholders immensely rich in the process.

Jobs made computing sexy and packaged music players, phones and portable screens to make them the must-have item for millions. But he is guilty, among other things, of bequeathing to us a worldwide cult of technological onanism from which we are unlikely to recover any time soon. » | Opinion | Julian Lee | Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Steve Jobs, Apple CEO Resigns
Steve Jobs has resigned as chief executive officer of Apple Inc, saying he could no longer fulfil the duties of the job.

Jobs, 56, who fought and survived a rare form of pancreatic cancer, revolutionised consumer electronics for a decade with the introduction of the iPod, iPhone and iPad.

With his passion for minimalist design and marketing genius, Jobs changed the course of personal computing and the entertainment industry.

He has been on indefinite leave since January because of an unspecified medical condition.

Al Jazeera's Rob Reynold reports from Los Angeles.