Steve Job's Wisest Decision

Unlike other Silicon Valley tycoons opposed to Donald Trump--a redundant description now that the President's only major SV supporter moved to LA--Tim Cook has kept the lines of communications open:

(WSJ photo)

Mr. Cook is one of the few executives in a hyperpolarized political era who has managed to both support and challenge the president’s agenda in a way that has kept him in Mr. Trump’s good graces while avoiding any public backlash from either employees or customers.

The laudatory Journal article, IMHO, understates the business and political skill of Tim Cook. He can express disagreement with the President and his own virulently anti-Trump work force without being vilified by either. And he is able to maintain cordial relations with China though Apple is one of the most prominent symbols of America and a visible target for China's displeasure.

This month the Apple CEO was named the chairman of the advisory board for Tsinghua University's economics and management school, aka the "Harvard Business School" of China. The appointment was lambasted by some American hard-liners, but declining the position would not only have hurt Apple but also the U.S.-China trade negotiations. The result is that Tim Cook has the ear of everyone and is respected by everyone.

Most of us didn't see it clearly in 2011, but naming Tim Cook his successor was Steve Jobs' wisest decision.

AAPL has outperformed the FANG (Facebook, Amazon, Neflix, Google) stocks in 2019.