Tim Cook's golden Apple
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Apple CEO Tim Cook hands the reins over to John Ternus Tuesday, stepping down after 15 years of running the company.
Why it matters: He had an epic run.
By the numbers: When Cook took over in August 2011, Apple's stock was trading at $13.35. It closed at $316.61 on Monday.
Zoom in: That 2,272% gain easily outpaced the growth of the major stock indexes.
- The company's market cap — the value of all its outstanding shares — is now $4.7 trillion, up from $347 billion in 2011.
Stunning stat: Under Cook, Apple's market cap grew by $32 million an hour for 15 years, Bank of America calculated last month.
The big picture: Cook's big innovation was taking the company from its roots as a device maker beholden to product cycles to a juggernaut with a huge recurring-revenue business built on App Store fees and services like iCloud, Apple TV and Music, Apple Pay and Apple News+.
- Apple now has more than 1.5 billion paid subscriptions across its platforms, the company said on its July 30 investor call.
- Its broader services business brought in $30.7 billion in the most recent quarter, up 12% from a year ago.
What to watch: The next challenge is how to navigate the AI era — there's some uncertainty there.
Yes, but: For all of Cook's magic, Steve Jobs still has a winning number.
- Apple's stock had even more growth under his stewardship, which began in 1997, with Jobs in the role of interim CEO.
