Tim Cook’s net worth is $2 billion, accumulated primarily through equity grants and stock awards received during his tenure as Apple’s CEO since 2011 and his preceding 13 years at the company as a senior operations executive. Cook does not own a founding stake in Apple — he holds approximately 0.021% of Apple’s shares — yet the relentless appreciation of Apple stock has made him one of roughly 3,300 billionaires globally, according to Forbes.
Updated March 2026: According to Forbes, Tim Cook’s real-time net worth as of March 11, 2026 is approximately $2.8 billion, reflecting his Apple stock holdings and compensation-derived assets. In December 2025, Forbes estimated his net worth at $2.6 billion.
Timothy Donald Cook was born on November 1, 1960, in Mobile, Alabama, to Donald and Geraldine Cook. He grew up in Robertsdale, Alabama, where he attended Robertsdale High School. He has described himself as the first in his family to pursue higher education, funding his early studies partly through earnings from a paper route. Cook enrolled at Auburn University in Alabama, graduating in 1982 with a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering — Auburn’s College of Engineering elected him to the National Academy of Engineering in February 2026 as part of its Class of 2026. He then earned an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business in 1988, graduating as a Fuqua Scholar — a distinction awarded only to students finishing in the top 10% of their class.
Cook spent 12 years at IBM following his Duke MBA, rising to the position of Director of North American Fulfillment — managing manufacturing, purchasing, and logistics for IBM’s Personal Computer Company across North and Latin America. In 1994, he was recruited away from IBM by Intelligent Electronics, a Denver-based reseller, where he served as Chief Operating Officer of the Reseller Division. In 1997, he joined Compaq Computer Corporation as Vice President of Corporate Materials before Apple co-founder Steve Jobs recruited him directly in 1998.
Cook joined Apple in March 1998 as Senior Vice President of Worldwide Operations, tasked with overhauling Apple’s supply chain and manufacturing operations — at the time badly mismanaged. He closed factories, outsourced manufacturing to contract manufacturers (most notably Foxconn in Asia), and transformed Apple’s inventory management from months of supply to days. He was promoted to Executive Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Operations in 2002 and to Chief Operating Officer in 2005. During Jobs’ medical leaves in 2004, 2009, and 2011, Cook served as Apple’s interim chief executive.
On August 24, 2011, Jobs formally resigned as CEO and Cook was appointed his permanent successor. Under Cook’s leadership, Apple became the world’s first publicly traded company to reach a $1 trillion market capitalization (August 2018), then $2 trillion (August 2020), and $3 trillion (January 2022). As of 2025, Apple had annual revenue of $416 billion, making it the second-largest technology company by revenue, per the company’s annual report. Cook doubled Apple’s revenue and profit between 2011 and 2020 and oversaw the launches of Apple Watch (2015), AirPods (2016), Apple Silicon Macs (2020), Vision Pro (2024), and the company’s massive expansion of Services revenue — now Apple’s highest-margin business segment.
Cook’s total compensation for fiscal year 2025 was $74.3 million, comprising a $3 million base salary (unchanged since 2016), $57.5 million in stock awards, a $12 million performance bonus, and $1.76 million in other compensation including security and private jet use, per Business Insider citing Apple’s SEC proxy filing.
Beyond Apple, Cook has served on Nike’s board of directors since 2005. He is a trustee of Duke University and serves on the board of the National Football Foundation. In February 2026, Auburn University’s College of Engineering announced his election to the National Academy of Engineering as part of its Class of 2026.
Tim Cook is not married and has no children. He is private about his personal life. In October 2014, he became the first CEO of a Fortune 500 company to publicly come out as gay, writing in a Bloomberg Businessweek essay: “I’m proud to be gay, and I consider being gay among the greatest gifts God has given me.” He lives in the Palo Alto, California area. Cook is known for his disciplined daily routine — he reportedly wakes at 3:45 a.m. and goes to bed early, responding to customer emails before his morning workout. He was inducted into the Alabama Academy of Honor in October 2014, the highest honor the state of Alabama bestows on its citizens. He appeared on Time magazine’s Time 100 list in 2012 and 2021, and received the Financial Times Person of the Year award. Cook has advocated publicly on issues including privacy, encryption, LGBTQ rights, immigration, and U.S. manufacturing policy during his tenure at Apple.
Tim Cook’s net worth is approximately $2 billion, with Forbes placing it at $2.8 billion as of March 2026. His wealth comes primarily from Apple equity accumulated through stock grants over his 27 years at the company. He owns approximately 3.28 million Apple shares, representing about 0.021% of Apple’s outstanding stock, per TheStreet.
Tim Cook’s total compensation for fiscal year 2025 was $74.3 million, comprising a $3 million base salary, $57.5 million in stock awards, a $12 million performance-based bonus, and approximately $1.76 million in other compensation, per Business Insider citing Apple’s proxy statement filed with the SEC. His $3 million base salary has remained unchanged since 2016.
Yes. In October 2014, Tim Cook published an essay in Bloomberg Businessweek in which he publicly came out as gay, becoming the first CEO of a Fortune 500 company to do so. He has since been an advocate for LGBTQ rights and delivered remarks on Alabama’s LGBTQ rights record at his Alabama Academy of Honor induction that same month.
As of March 2026, Tim Cook is 65 years old. Tim Cook was born on November 1, 1960 in Mobile, Alabama, USA.
Tim Cook stands 6’0″ tall (183 cm).
Tim Cook lives in Palo Alto, California. His primary home is valued at approximately $2.3 million — a notably modest property for one of the world’s most powerful tech executives.
Tim Cook earned $74.3 million in total compensation from Apple in 2025. As CEO of the world’s most valuable company, his pay package includes salary, stock awards, and performance bonuses.