The Wall Street Journal has published an adapted excerpt from former journalist Yukari Iwatani Kane’s upcoming book Haunted Empire: Apple After Steve Jobs, set to debut on March 18.
The lengthy piece will make for an excellent weekend read and covers more into the life of Apple CEO Tim Cook and how he has adapted as the new boss of the Cupertino-based company post-Steve Jobs. Cook is described as being a tough leader with high expectations yet extremely private when it comes to his personal life. Below is an excerpt from the article:
From the start of his Apple tenure, Cook set colossally high expectations. He wanted the best price, the best delivery, the best yield, the best everything. “I want you to act like we are a $20 billion company,” he told the procurement team—even though Apple then had only about $6 billion in annual revenues and was barely eking out a profit. They were playing in a new league now.
To some, Cook was a machine; to others, he was riveting. He could strike terror in the hearts of his subordinates, but he could also motivate them to toil from dawn to midnight for just a word of praise.
Those who interacted only passingly with Cook saw him as a gentle Southerner with an aura reminiscent of Mister Rogers. But he wasn’t approachable. Over the years, colleagues had tried to engage him in personal conversations, with little success. He worked out at a different gym than the one on Apple’s campus and didn’t fraternize outside of work.
According to Kane via email, she tells us the article is a 98% excerpt drawn from different parts of the book, with only a few connecting pieces changed but overall minimal. Previously, Kane answered a few questions with iPhoneinCanada.ca regarding her upcoming book, which took almost two years to write.
Beyond the WSJ adapted excerpt, be sure to watch the video clip where Kane speaks with WSJ reporter Daisuke Wakabayashi.
Here, Kane details her extensive research into Apple’s CEO took her to his hometown of Robertsdale, Alabama, where she interviewed Cook’s old friends, teachers and even spoke with the mayor. The former WSJ journalist goes on to admit “I’ve probably unearthed as much as anybody could find out about him.”
Despite her deep investigative assignment into Tim Cook, which even included the help of the Pensacola Historical Society in Florida (where Cook’s family moved to from Pensacola), Kane was unable to find out the birthplace of the Apple CEO, noting it has been untraceable, adding to the mysterious aura of Apple’s leader.
