Tim Cook Has Now Been Apple's CEO for Longer Than Steve Jobs

[MacRumors]

Tim Cook has now served as Apple's chief executive officer (CEO) for longer Steve Jobs' entire tenure, including the latter's time as interim CEO.

Steve Jobs served as Apple's CEO across two distinct stretches: first as interim CEO from September 16, 1997 to January 5, 2000, a period lasting 841 days, and then as official CEO from January 5, 2000 until his resignation on August 24, 2011, a span of 4,249 days. Combined, Jobs led Apple as CEO for a total of 5,090 days.

Tim Cook, on the other hand, became CEO immediately following Jobs's resignation on August 24, 2011 and has continuously held since then, which amounts to 5,091 days. This means that, as of August 1, 2025, Cook has officially been Apple's CEO for one day longer than Steve Jobs was.

It's worth noting that from 1976 to 1985, Steve Jobs was never Apple's CEO. When Apple incorporated in 1977, venture capitalist Mike Markkula insisted on bringing in an experienced executive to run the company, which is why Michael Scott was hired as Apple's first CEO. After Scott left, Markkula himself became CEO, followed by John Sculley, whom Jobs personally recruited from Pepsi in 1983.

Jobs instead held titles such as chairman of the board and head of the Macintosh division, but he was not entrusted with the chief executive role. Ultimately, after a power struggle in 1985, Jobs was stripped of his responsibilities and left the company entirely.

In terms of hardware, as CEO Jobs oversaw the launch of major products such as the iMac, iPod, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, Apple TV, iPhone, and iPad from 1997 to 2011. Cook, on the other hand, has overseen the debut of the Apple Watch, AirPods, HomePod, Apple silicon, AirTag, and Vision Pro.

Software-wise, Jobs debuted iTunes, Mac OS X, Safari, iOS, the App Store, FaceTime, and iCloud. Cook has overseen the launch of Swift, Apple Pay, Apple Intelligence, and a massive expansion of Apple services including Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Apple News+, and Apple Fitness+.

Jobs also stewarded the company's recovery and Microsoft's $150 million investment, the move into retail, the plan to build Apple Park, and Apple's ascension to become the most valuable American tech company. Cook has supervised record valuations (reaching $3 trillion dollars in 2022) and Apple becoming the most valuable public traded company, as well as significant acquisitions such as Beats and Shazam.

Cook seemingly has no plans to step down anytime soon; there is apparently no immediate successor ready to take the helm. In fact, he could become Apple's chairman as well as CEO in the not-too-distant future.

Article Link: Tim Cook Has Now Been Apple's CEO for Longer Than Steve Jobs

 

[StoneJack]

He has been good choice for Apple after Jobs. In business terms, almost perfect.

 

[daneoni]

They may not be as 'innovative' as they were under Jobs. But as CEO he's been overseeing a sustained cash cow since he took over.

 

[pavelbure]

Keeping the company profitable A+
Making innovative products that people want to buy D+

 

[Unami]

So, time for a retirement, finally, and then let's get a products-guy again.

 

[cbaca51]

No matter what you think of Cook nowadays, you can’t deny how successful Apple has been in the Cook era. He truly took Apple to be one of the most successful and profitable companies EVER.

 

[ForkHandles]

Keeping the company profitable A+
Making innovative products that people want to buy D+

Making a company A+ profitable by not creating innovative products that people want to buy!

That’s some top level business acumen right there.

 

[Blue Hawk]

No innovator like Jobs. But not so bad. At least he knows how to make money. But I miss the times where Jobs showed us innovations.

 

[vertsix]

He is no Steve Jobs.

- Failures in AI.
- Failed execution and investment with Apple Vision Pro.
- Anti-consumer subscription-based models.
- Bloated and unfocused product categories.
- Vaporware (AirPower and Apple Car).
- Unnecessary products (HomePod, anyone?).

 

[JapanApple]

He’s made the company more successful and a stock value worth more than Steve Jobs did prior.

 

[The Cockney Rebel]

There will always be moaners, but people will still buy Apple products.

RIP Steve Jobs 🙏🏻.

 

[t0rqx]

Making trillion profits by removing quality manufacturing and materials. Dont forget the new MBP come with scratches and dents in the screen, Apple does not pay for high QC. Thats where the real profits come from.

 

[ikir]

As a users I’m super happy with Apple today. I know we are on a whinefest forum, just my 2 cents.

 

[ikir]

Making trillion profits by removing quality manufacturing and materials. Dont forget the new MBP come with scratches and dents in the screen, Apple does not pay for high QC. Thats where the real profits come from.

I setup and all sell so many macs every year, never seen such thing, instead I can say the opposite for most PCs I order for my IT-admin job.

 

[DMG35]

Apple still makes great stuff. If I had a complaint with them it would just be that they are way behind in the AI game with things like photo editing. The Galaxy S25 Ultra absolutely crushes Apple when it comes to editing photos and hopefully Apple starts to catch up.

 

[MrENGLISH]

I often wonder how different the world would be if Steve Jobs's life wasn't cut so short.

RIP Steve

 

[Danilamak]

No matter what you think of Cook nowadays, you can’t deny how successful Apple has been in the Cook era. He truly took Apple to be one of the most successful and profitable companies EVER.

Sure, but worth to mention success was built on top of most innovative legacy, that any new CEO had

 

[Samuel Sosa]

Steve Jobs was a once-in-a-generation visionary. True innovation often comes from pressure, not comfort. When a company is highly profitable, there’s little incentive to take risks or disrupt.

We’re now in the era of AI — and most people don’t fully realize it. Hardware has matured; there’s only so much thinner or faster a phone can get. We already carry more computing power in our pockets than entire desktops had 20 years ago.

The future isn’t about raw specs — it’s about refinement, intelligence, and how AI transforms the way we use technology.

 

[gpat]

The guy actually supervised Apple Silicon. It was no small feat.
I was MUCH more critical towards him before that.

 

[vertsix]

Fire Cook. We want a product person at the helm of Apple again. We want John Ternus.

 

[delsoul]

And it most definitely shows. Big whoop, hoards the cash at the expense of stale, lackluster products. Changed a camera location and does backflips down the street like it’s the greatest creation ever. Tim
couldn’t resign soon enough.

 

[Princejb134]

As a users I’m super happy with Apple today. I know we are on a whinefest forum, just my 2 cents.

Everything online is people whinning. No one is ever truly happy. You ever been on reddit lol

 

[MacFan23]

- Vaporware (Apple Car).

Can you really call an entirely unannounced product that was in R&D and only known to the public through leaks and hiring hints, vapourware?

 

[ForkHandles]

Steve Jobs was a once-in-a-generation visionary. True innovation often comes from pressure, not comfort. When a company is highly profitable, there’s little incentive to take risks or disrupt.

We’re now in the era of AI — and most people don’t fully realize it. Hardware has matured; there’s only so much thinner or faster a phone can get. We already carry more computing power in our pockets than entire desktops had 20 years ago.

The future isn’t about raw specs — it’s about refinement, intelligence, and how AI transforms the way we use technology.

AI !!!!

It's not artificial, it's not intelligent, it's just machine learning and we've had that for 40+ years. IT needs hype, without hype it cannot be funded, AI is lucky enough to create more hype that the Metaverse, Second Life, Crypto and others combined, consequently it has secured billions in funding from Venture Capitalists.


From Meredith Whittaker at Signal.

 

[Newbie67]

And it shows