Five years ago, on August 24, 2011, of Apple after Steve Jobs had resigned due to his illness. So how did Tim Cook master the challenge of succeeding Apple鈥檚 charismatic co-founder and long-time CEO? After all, Jobs was one of the most iconic business figures of the past century and is still credited with Apple鈥檚 unprecedented rise following the iPhone鈥檚 release in 2007.
Given that the most obvious indicator of how a public company such as Apple has fared in the eyes of private and institutional investors is its share price, we decided to take a look at the company鈥檚 stock performance under Cook鈥檚 watch. At first glance, Apple鈥檚 shareholders have nothing to complain about: adjusted for splits and dividends, anyone who invested in Apple stock the day of Cook鈥檚 appointment has more than doubled his initial investment. That鈥檚 only half of the story though, as our chart below illustrates: investing in Apple鈥檚 competitors Google, Microsoft and Amazon yielded significantly larger returns over the same period. Considering that the Nasdaq Composite Index, a market- cap-weighted index of roughly 2,500 companies, also doubled since 2011, Apple just barely beat the market, which isn鈥檛 great for a company of Apple鈥檚 ambitions.
One thing that most experts agree on is that Apple鈥檚 extreme growth over the past decade wouldn鈥檛 have been possible without Tim Cook, who excels in logistics and supply chain management. Now that the iPhone business is slowing down though, he鈥檚 going to have to prove that he can do more than maintain and build on Steve Jobs鈥 legacy. He needs to find his own 鈥渙ne more thing鈥.
Tim Cook as Apple CEO
How Apple Shares Have Performed in 5 Years Under Tim Cook
