Tim Cook

Under Tim Cook's leadership, Apple announced in April 2025 that it has surpassed 60% reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions from 2015 levels, on track for its Apple 2030 goal of 75% reduction and full carbon neutrality. Over 320 suppliers (95% of manufacturing spend) have transitioned to renewable energy.

At Apple's February 2025 shareholder meeting, Tim Cook defended DEI programs, stating 'Our strength has always come from hiring the very best people and providing a culture of collaboration.' Over 97% of shareholders voted against a proposal to end DEI efforts. Trump attacked Apple the next day on Truth Social, writing 'APPLE SHOULD GET RID OF DEI RULES.'

Apple CEO Tim Cook made a personal donation of $1 million to Donald Trump's 2025 inauguration fund. This was a personal contribution from Cook, not a corporate donation from Apple.

In March 2024, the DOJ filed a landmark antitrust lawsuit against Apple, alleging the company maintained an illegal monopoly over performance smartphones (70% market share) by restricting third-party developers and limiting interoperability. Cook had previously testified to Congress that Apple treated all developers equally, claims that congressional investigators disputed as arbitrary and self-serving.

Under Cook's leadership, Apple continued to rely on Foxconn as its primary manufacturer despite repeated China Labor Watch investigations documenting forced overtime (60-75 hours/week vs. China's legal maximum), wage withholding, recruitment discrimination against Uyghur, Tibetan, Yi and Hui ethnic minorities, and sexual harassment. A 2023 CLW report alleged Apple representatives were aware of these practices during iPhone production.

In November 2022, Apple restricted its AirDrop feature in China to limit file sharing to contacts-only by default, a change that coincided with widespread protests against China's zero-COVID policies. Protesters had been using AirDrop to share protest materials with strangers. The timing led to criticism that Apple was helping the Chinese government suppress dissent, though Apple later rolled the change out globally.

In 2021, Tim Cook joined Dan Reynolds and Ryan Smith in donating $4 million to build eight new Encircle homes across the United States, each serving approximately 10,000 LGBTQ+ youth annually. Encircle provides therapy, community support, and safe spaces for LGBTQ+ young people and their families.

In November 2020, it was revealed that Apple lobbyists worked to weaken the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, proposing to extend compliance deadlines and limit public disclosure requirements. Apple spent $90,000 on lobbying related to the bill. This contradicted Cook's July 2020 congressional testimony where he called forced labor 'abhorrent' and pledged zero tolerance for supply chain abuses.

Under Tim Cook's leadership, Apple removed VPN apps, the HKmap.live Hong Kong protest app (October 2019), and other politically sensitive apps from China's App Store at the request of Chinese authorities. Employees alleged Cook ultimately approved plans to aggressively censor apps and store customer data on Chinese government-managed servers in Guiyang and Inner Mongolia.

In October 2018, Tim Cook delivered a keynote at the International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners in Brussels, calling privacy a 'fundamental human right' and urging comprehensive federal privacy legislation in the US. He criticized the 'data-industrial complex' and companies that harvest personal data for profit, positioning Apple's business model as privacy-first.

In February 2016, Tim Cook publicly refused a court order to help the FBI unlock the iPhone of the San Bernardino shooter, publishing an open letter arguing that creating a backdoor would set a dangerous precedent and undermine security for all iPhone users. Cook framed encryption as essential to civil liberties. The FBI ultimately unlocked the phone with a third party's help and withdrew the case.

In October 2014, Tim Cook published an essay in Bloomberg Businessweek publicly coming out as gay, becoming the first openly gay CEO of a Fortune 500 company. He stated he hoped it would help LGBTQ+ youth struggling with their identity. Cook has since been a vocal advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, urging states like Alabama to advance equality laws.