At 63 years old, Tim Cook is currently one of the older tech CEOs working today. Though Cook has no plans to retire from Apple just yet, he did recently explain that a detailed succession plan is already in place for when that day comes. In other words, a Succession-style battle where underlings vie for the CEO spot once Cook leaves isn’t in the cards.
Cook talking about a succession plan in and of itself is interesting, especially given that Steve Jobs many years ago was somewhat coy about who would take charge after him.
Cook’s remarks came during a recent interview with Dua Lipa for BBC Sounds.
“We’re a company that believes in working on succession plans, so we have very detailed succession plans,” Cook said. “Because something unpredictable can always happen. I could step off the wrong curb tomorrow. Hopefully, that doesn’t happen. I pray that it doesn’t.”
When Dua Lipa followed up with a question about who might be his successor, Cook naturally didn’t elaborate.
“I can’t say that,” Cook answered. “But I would say that my job is to prepare several people for the ability to succeed, and I really want the person to come from within Apple, the next CEO. So that’s my role: That there’s several for the board to pick from.”
The full interview is below and touches on a wide breadth of topics, including climate change and artificial intelligence.
On a related note, I think it’s fair to say that Cook over the years has been targeted with unfair critiques. While some critics will point to a “lack of innovation” under his command, that perspective fails to account for the fact that revolutionary products, almost by definition, come along once in a lifetime. Besides, Apple with Cook in charge rolled out the iPhone X, the Apple Watch, and the forthcoming Vision Pro. What’s more, Apple under Cook has become a $3 trillion company. Overall, Cook has been an exemplary CEO, and it’s easy to see why Steve Jobs hand-picked him for the role.
