- Apple CEO Tim Cook got his first job at just 11 and couldn’t afford his MBA without working—but that’s not what he says shaped his work ethic
It’s hard to recall a time before Tim Cook worked at Apple—after all he joined the company in 1998, before iPods (RIP) even existed. But long before helming the world of iPhones, iMacs, and iPads, Cook could be found tossing the latest newspaper into the front gardens of Robertsdale, Ala. residents.
“My upbringing was centered on work and the belief that hard work was essential for everybody, regardless of your age,” the Apple CEO shared on Table Manners podcast. “I started working when I was probably 11 or 12 on the paper route.”
He then “graduated to flipping burgers” for a local restaurant at around 14 years old.
“I worked at a place called Tastee Freeze,” Cook said, adding that the food wasn’t actually tasty “but it was the only fast food kind of place in town.”
Looking back, the now 64-year-old recalled serving classmates burgers and ice creams on the weekends.
“They would come in and generally make fun of me—that I was working at the burger place,” he added. “You have to wear a little hat. And I wore an apron. And I was making $1.10 an hour at the time.”
Cook also revealed on the podcast that he was forced to work full-time while studying for his MBA at Duke University.
“I was working during the day and going to school at night because the only way I could have afforded to go to Duke was to have my employer basically pay for it,” he said.
But he doesn’t regret juggling work with his studies from childhood until his twenties. “It was a fabulous time. All my life has been a fabulous time,” he concluded.
Plus, his early experience with hard work clearly paid off: After climbing the ranks at IBM for 12 years, Steve Jobs invited him to join Apple in 1998—and the rest is history. Now, he’s one of the highest-paid CEOs in America. Last year, Cook took home $74.6 million.
Growing up in rural America with hard-working parents shaped his work ethos
Cook was born in 1960 to Geraldine and Donald Cook in the city of Mobile. However, the family later settled in Robertsdale—and it was this humble upbringing, which he says shaped his work ethos.
“I came from an extremely modest background in a rural town with two, three thousand people in it, so it was a blink and you’ll miss it kind of place,” the Apple veteran said.
“But it was terrific. The house was filled with love and everybody knew everybody in town and what everybody was doing. And so it was a very different upbringing.”
Growing up, his mother worked in the local pharmacy, and his father worked “the second shift” in the shipbuilding industry, meaning he was rarely home in the evenings.
“They instilled hard work,” Cook said of his parents. “And that has stayed with me for a lifetime, is the value of it, the fact that work can be a part of your purpose.”
“Before Apple, I loved to work. I didn’t love the work—and now I love both. And there’s a big difference that you feel when you do that,” he concluded.
