Tim Cook Brings Philanthropic Attitude to Apple, Donates $100 Million to Charities

All eyes are on Tim Cook since assuming the role of Apple's chief executive officer after Steve Jobs' health took a turn for the worse, and now that the co-founder is gone, the world is eager to find out how Cook intends to fill those shoes. Perhaps ironically, Cook has chosen to fill the mighty big shoes Jobs left behind by putting a bigger focus on charitable contributions.

Jobs wasn't known for his charity, and next to the likes of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, it's fair to say Jobs was known for his lack of charitable contributions (perhaps his charitable givings were done anonymously, as an article in Forbes surmises). But under the leadership of Cook, Apple appears very much focused on donating money to worthy causes.


Cook said that Apple has donated $50 million to Stanford's hospitals, with $25 million going towards a new building and the other $25 million to a new children's hospital, along with yet another $50+ million donated to Product RED, The Verge reports.

Apple is a more philanthropic company under Cook than it was under Jobs. According to a recent report in The Wall Street Journal, Jobs "was opposed to giving money away," which is in contrast to Cook who is all too eager to let people know about Apple's $100+ million charitable efforts, and who also started a program in which the Cupertino company will match donations made by its employees up to $10,000 a year.

It's far too early in Cook's tenure as CEO to determine what kind of leader he'll be, but early indications suggest it's more than just a business to him.