Cook said that Jobs called him on an August weekend in 2011 and it was unusually urgent.
Jobs told Cook bluntly: he wanted him to take the helm as CEO right away. Tim Cook recently handed the Apple CEO role to John Ternus and transitioned to executive chairman. Amid this change, an old interview clip surfaced online showing Cook recalling the moment Steve Jobs summoned him to discuss becoming the next CEO. Jobs asked to speak immediately, telling Cook that after careful reflection, he was determined to make the first orderly, professional chief executive handover in Apple ’s corporate history.
“When he called me one weekend, in August of 2011, he said, ‘I’d like to talk’.
And I said, ‘Okay and I go, When? and he goes, “Now”. And he told me, “I’ve been thinking a lot. Apple’s never had a professional transition at CEO. I’m determined that we will have one. Now, I want you to be the CEO. On that day, Cook believed Jobs would stay on as chairman for years to come, envisioning an enduring partnership where the two would run Apple side by side. Cook emphasised that Jobs deliberately chose someone with a completely distinct temperament and leadership style, rather than searching for a replica of himself. Jobs had reflected deeply on who should guide Apple’s next era, fully aware that Cook was not a carbon copy. “He knew when he chose me that I wasn’t like him. That I’m not a carbon copy of him. He obviously thought through that deeply about who he wanted to lead Apple. That, I have always felt the responsibility of — and I’ve wanted desperately to continue his legacy. So, from the onset, I wanted to pour every ounce that I had in myself into the company,” Cook explained.