Everybody thinks Apple's Tim Cook's boring (but he's kicking everybody's ass)
Jerod Harris/Getty Images for Vox Media
- Apple's market cap is worth more than Amazon, Meta, and Alphabet combined.
- Other tech companies have faced more pushback for seemingly investing too much in headcounts and moonshot projects.
- Apple isn't immune to criticism, but CEO Tim Cook largely avoids controversy, which may insulate the company.
Apple is now worth more than Amazon, Meta, and Alphabet combined, suggesting CEO Tim Cook's keep-your-head-down approach has paid off.
As of the stock market's close on Wednesday, Apple's market cap stood at $2.307 trillion, while its tech peers' market caps — all together — added to slightly less: $2.306 trillion.
While other tech companies' stocks have been punished for seemingly investing too much money in moonshot projects or massively expanding their headcounts, Apple has quietly stayed the course, focusing on its core businesses.
Apple hasn't been entirely immune to controversy, though. The company is constantly fielding accusations that its app store is a monopoly for taking a 30% cut of all in-app purchases. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has even publicly accused the company of undercutting other businesses to grow its own.
But Cook has been careful not to draw himself into the spotlight or wade too deeply into controversy.
Compare Cook's approach with CEOs like Zuckerberg, and Tesla's Elon Musk, who appear on podcasts and often publicly comment on corporate controversies. The entire Nasdaq is down 32.7% in 2022, while Meta's stock is down 73%, and Tesla's is down 46%. But Apple's stock is down only 23%.
As ex-Apple employee-turned-journalist Michael Gartenberg wrote for Insider last month, "boring is what's new" at Apple.
It pays to be an investor in Apple compared to other big tech companies, and perhaps it pays to be a CEO who isn't afraid to be boring.