Key Takeaways
- In a brand new interview, Apple CEO Tim Prepare dinner straight rejected hypothesis that he plans to step down.
- The 65-year-old CEO joined Apple 28 years in the past and mentioned he has “beloved on daily basis of it since.”
- Prepare dinner joined Apple in 1998, abandoning a profession at PC maker Compaq.
Apple CEO Tim Prepare dinner isn’t going anyplace.
In an interview with ABC’s Good Morning America that aired this week, the 65-year-old CEO dismissed rumors that he’s getting ready to retire quickly. When requested straight about whether or not he deliberate to step apart, Prepare dinner informed ABC, “No, I didn’t say that. I haven’t mentioned that.”
“I like what I do deeply,” Prepare dinner elaborated. “Twenty-eight years in the past, I walked into Apple, and I’ve beloved on daily basis of it since.”
The hypothesis has been fueled by latest senior departures in Apple’s AI, legal and design items, in addition to questions on Apple’s pace in AI improvement. Nonetheless, Prepare dinner mentioned that he’s staying on the firm and described AI as a “profound” know-how that Apple is approaching with a powerful privateness focus.
Prepare dinner’s background earlier than Apple
Prepare dinner earned an industrial engineering diploma from Auburn College in 1982 and later an MBA from Duke College’s Fuqua Faculty of Enterprise in 1988.
He spent 12 years at IBM within the private laptop enterprise, rising to the function of director of North American achievement and overseeing manufacturing and distribution throughout the Americas.
After IBM, he grew to become chief working officer of the reseller division at Clever Electronics after which vice chairman of company supplies at Compaq, chargeable for managing the PC maker’s huge element and product stock.
What introduced him to Apple
In 1998, Prepare dinner made a counterintuitive choice to depart Compaq, then a dominant PC participant, to hitch a struggling Apple as senior vice chairman for worldwide operations.
“Any purely rational consideration of value and advantages lined up in Compaq’s favor, and the individuals who knew me greatest suggested me to remain at Compaq,” Prepare dinner mentioned in his 2010 commencement speech at Auburn College. “One CEO I consulted felt so strongly about it, he informed me I’d be a idiot to depart Compaq for Apple.”
Prepare dinner determined to take heed to his intestine, even when the transfer didn’t make sense. In March 1998, he joined Apple, accepting a base wage of $400,000 and a $500,000 signing bonus, in keeping with CNBC. He labored his approach as much as chief working officer earlier than entering into the CEO function in 2011.
What Prepare dinner has executed as CEO — up to now
Underneath Prepare dinner, Apple has debuted new merchandise just like the Apple Watch and AirPods, whereas persevering with to iterate on the iPhone and iPad. In accordance with Macworld, Apple now has almost 4 instances the income it did when Prepare dinner first took over, pushed by quadrupling iPhone income.
Prepare dinner has additionally expanded into services, turning choices like Apple Music and Apple TV+ subscriptions into recurring income streams. Providers income has climbed from about $15 billion in 2012 to $68 billion in 2024.
Throughout his tenure, Apple’s market worth has soared from underneath $1 trillion to a number of trillions. On the time of writing, Apple is the third most precious firm on this planet, with a market value of $3.67 trillion. It’s behind Nvidia (with a market worth of $4.33 trillion) and Alphabet (price $3.68 trillion).
Prepare dinner’s compensation was $74 million in 2025, making him one of many highest-paid CEOs within the U.S.
Key Takeaways
- In a brand new interview, Apple CEO Tim Prepare dinner straight rejected hypothesis that he plans to step down.
- The 65-year-old CEO joined Apple 28 years in the past and mentioned he has “beloved on daily basis of it since.”
- Prepare dinner joined Apple in 1998, abandoning a profession at PC maker Compaq.
Apple CEO Tim Prepare dinner isn’t going anyplace.
In an interview with ABC’s Good Morning America that aired this week, the 65-year-old CEO dismissed rumors that he’s getting ready to retire quickly. When requested straight about whether or not he deliberate to step apart, Prepare dinner informed ABC, “No, I didn’t say that. I haven’t mentioned that.”
“I like what I do deeply,” Prepare dinner elaborated. “Twenty-eight years in the past, I walked into Apple, and I’ve beloved on daily basis of it since.”
