CUPERTINO, Calif. — Apple CEO and Alabama native Tim Cook on Friday joined a list of ultra-wealthy businessmen and women who have pledged to leave their fortunes to charity when they die, according to an interview with Fortune magazine.
“You want to be the pebble in the pond that creates the ripple for change,” he told the magazine.
Cook, who is perhaps the most high-profile gay person in the country, is estimated to be worth over $120 million, with another $775 million tied up in restricted Apple stocks.
He is planning on giving away everything except enough to ensure his 10-year-old nephew receives a college education. The Fortune interview did not reveal toward what types of charities Cook plans on leaving his wealth.
A 2014 Wall Street Journal profile detailed some of the extraordinary generosity Cook has demonstrated in the past:
He gave away the frequent-flier miles that he racked up as Christmas gifts, and he volunteered at a soup kitchen during the Thanksgiving holidays. He had also participated in an annual two-day cycling event across Georgia to raise money for multiple sclerosis; Cook had been a supporter since being misdiagnosed with the disease years before…
Cook’s second decision [as Apple CEO] was to start a charity program, matching donations of up to $10,000, dollar for dollar annually. This too was widely embraced: The lack of an Apple corporate-matching program had long been a sore point for many employees. Jobs had considered matching programs particularly ineffective because the contributions would never amount to enough to make a difference. Some of his friends believed that Jobs would have taken up some causes once he had more time, but Jobs used to say that he was contributing to society more meaningfully by building a good company and creating jobs. Cook believed firmly in charity. “My objective—one day—is to totally help others,” he said. “To me, that’s real success, when you can say, ‘I don’t need it anymore. I’m going to do something else.’
Cook grew up in Robertsdale, Alabama, and graduated from Auburn University before earning an MBA from Duke University then joining the Apple team in 1998.
Earlier this year, Cook led Apple to a record profit for any company ever.
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— Elizabeth BeShears (@LizEBeesh) January 21, 2015
