Tim Cook is an American business executive who succeeded Steve Jobs as the chief executive officer (CEO) of ‘Apple Inc.’ in 2011. Even before officially assuming the title of the CEO, he had served as the acting CEO during Jobs’ long medical leave in the months preceding the former ‘Apple’ CEO’s death. From the time he joined ‘Apple’ as the senior vice president (SVP) of Worldwide Operations in 1998, Tim Cook has been instrumental in leading the company towards success. In fact, ‘Apple’ was going through a tough phase when Cook accepted to join the company and his role in resurrecting the company has been immense. Born into a middle class home in a small town, Cook is a self-made man. A good student at school, he went on to study industrial engineering at the ‘Auburn University’ in Alabama before completing his MBA degree at the Duke University's ‘Fuqua School of Business.’ He entered the field of computer technology and started working for IBM. Brilliant, creative, and blessed with steely determination, Cook rose through the ranks within the company. He then went on to work for ‘Compaq.’ But his stay at ‘Compaq’ was short-lived as he left the company to join the then-struggling ‘Apple.’ He then changed the company’s fortunes within years of joining.