Tim Cook is making waves in the tech world. Not only has the man made Apple more profitable than before, but Fortune Magazine declared him to be one of the greatest leaders today. But, is Cook truly that?
Fortune Magazine released a lengthy profile of the Apple CEO this week which explored how he's expanded both the company and its technological reach beyond what former Apple CEO Steve Jobs would have done. While there were a lot of interesting factoids to glean from that profile, the most interesting thing is what Cook hopes to do with his fortune.
Fortune says that Cook's earnings are currently worth $785 million. That's significantly lower than what Jobs was worth, who Forbes estimates would be worth something between 6.5 to 7 billion at the time of his death. It's also nothing compared to what Windows CEO Steve Jobs or Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is worth, who are both worth billions.
Fortune estimates that only about $120 million of Cook's fortune came from his investments in Apple. The rest of the value comes from restricted stock that would be worth $665 million if Cook were to fully invest in it.
But what will Cook do with his fortune?
"Fortune magazine cited the head of the world's largest technology corporation as saying he planned to donate his estimated $785 million fortune to charity - after paying for his 10-year-old nephew's college education," reports Reuters.
Cook's decision to give a significant portion of his fortune away seems to have been inspired by billionaire financeer Warren Buffett's "giving pledge," which asks the extremely wealthy to give away more than half of their fortune to a good cause. Tech companies that have signed Buffett's Giving Pledge include Windows founder Bill Gates, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Google CEO Larry Ellison. While it's likely that Tim Cook is attempting to fulfill the Giving Pledge, his name isn't on the website. This is likely because, as Reuters notes, "Cook is known as an intensely private person who shuns the spotlight on philanthropy."
Cook has not released a list of what charities he plans to donate to yet.
