Tim Cook: The Evolution From Apple’s Temporary CEO To Billionaire Leader

It's hard to believe that it's been almost a decade since Tim Cook was officially named CEO of Apple. For those who don't remember that far back, Tim had actually served as temporary CEO a few times when Steve Jobs took leaves of absence for medical treatment. He was officially confirmed as permanent CEO in 2011. He has been with the company since 1998. Prior to becoming CEO, he was Apple’s Senior Vice President of Worldwide Operations.

A lot of people were skeptical of Tim and Apple in general without Steve Jobs (who died in October of 2011, three months after Tim was named CEO). Most of the outside world had never heard of Tim Cook. We knew Steve Jobs. He was the genius who saved Apple from the brink of bankruptcy. He was the genius who led the company from innovation to innovation. From iTunes to the iPod to the iPhone to the iPad. Under Jobs' reign, Apple rose to a blistering $350 billion market cap.

So how did Tim end up performing? The stock performance speaks volumes! Apple’s current market cap stands at an impressive $1.93 trillion, a significant leap from its previous peak of $350 billion during Steve Jobs' tenure. This success reflects not just on Tim's leadership but also on the innovative culture that continues to thrive at Apple.

Tim Cook's Journey to Billionaire Status

On the day Tim was named permanent CEO of Apple, he was given an extremely lucrative pay package. The most lucrative aspect of that package are equity grants. These grants vested in annual installments over 9 years (we’re in the ninth year right now). A big portion of these grants are performance-based. He only receives this portion in years where Apple’s stock out-performs 2/3 of S&P 500 companies. This month is the last month in the nine-year installment plan.

Tim has hit every single milestone. As of this writing, he is the second-largest individual shareholder of Apple, owning 847,969 fully-vested shares. He likely received roughly twice as many actual shares along the way because he has had to sell shares to cover taxes at the moment of each grant. Those roughly 850,000 shares are worth approximately $380 million.

Tim will receive his ninth and largest grant later this month. This grant will shower him with 560,000 new shares, worth $250 million at $450 per share. After covering taxes, he’ll have $125 million. In other words, on September 1st, Tim will own around 1.130 million fully-vested shares of Apple (850,000 + 280,000). At today’s price per share of $450, those 1.130 million shares are worth $510 million.

Joining the Exclusive Billionaire Club

Not only is Tim about to join the three comma billionaire club, but he’ll also join a very exclusive club of people who have become billionaires as employees, not founders, of a company. Think about that accomplishment! 99.999% of other billionaires in the world are either founders of companies or heirs of people who founded companies. To start as a regular employee (in 1998 in Tim’s case) and work your way up to a $1,000,000,000 net worth is nothing short of extraordinary.

Off the top of my head, Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan and Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs are the only other employee billionaires I can think of. There might be others, but it is an extremely small club. Tim Cook’s success story is a testament to hard work, dedication, and visionary leadership.

Tim Cook's journey serves as inspiration for many aspiring leaders and employees alike!