Timothy Donald Cook (born November 1, 1960) is an American business executive who is the current CEO of Apple Inc. Cook had previously been the company's chief operating officer under its co-founder Steve Jobs. Cook joined Apple in March 1998 as a senior vice president for worldwide operations, and then as executive vice president for worldwide sales and operations. He was appointed chief executive on August 24, 2011 after Jobs, who was ill and died that October, resigned.