// THE VERGE — HARDWARE & GADGET
Tim Cook’s legacy isn’t just phones, it’s politics
Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Cook preserved Apple’s supply chain by deftly appeasing Donald Trump and Xi Jinping.
Cook preserved Apple’s supply chain by deftly appeasing Donald Trump and Xi Jinping.
Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
As much as any Apple product released during his time as CEO, Tim Cook’s tenure will be remembered for its ruthlessly efficient tight-rope walk between an autocrat in China and a would-be autocrat in the US.
During his 15 years as CEO, Cook steered Apple through relations with both Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump, including escalating conflicts between the two. As Apple’s enmeshment in China raised serious questions about reports of forced labor and censorship, Cook managed to appease Xi while maneuvering around political blowback in the US. And when Trump launched a trade war against China, Cook managed to soften the blow through his White House diplomacy. Cook’s ability to thread the needle between two superpowers helped expand Apple into a multi-trillion-dollar company, while downplaying concerns about civil rights, working conditions, and other serious issues.
Cook was the executive who had helped solidify Apple’s manufacturing prowess in China, even before stepping into the role as CEO in 2011. Once at the helm, he had to navigate questions of censorship, data privacy, and forced or child labor reports even before Trump ascended to the presidency. He repeatedly attended meetings with Xi alongside other tech CEOs. The close relationship has put Apple in an awkward position at times. Groups like Human Rights Watch warned that Apple’s actions in China could put it at odds with its stated value of protecting user privacy.