Apple’s chief executive officer wants to make the world a better place, and that goes beyond creating innovative technology. Tim Cook recently claimed he has plans to donate $785 million to charity right after he pays for his son’s college education.
Tim Cook talks about charity
Cook told Fortune magazine you have to be the pebble in the pond that creates change. His recent profile in Fortune provides another example of the world’s richest giving away a significant amount of their fortunes to causes that matter. Warren Buffett (one of the richest men in the world) strongly encourages others to donate through his Giving Pledge. The website lists billionaires who donate, including Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and Larry Ellison.
Although Cook doesn’t have as much money as Gates or Zuckerberg, he still wants to do his part. He has been known to talk about issues and causes that matter most to him before. Cook opened up about environmental and GLBT issues. He recently told Fortune that he likes to donate money to unspecified causes in a more quiet manner because he believes giving is more than just writing checks.
A look back at former Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ charity works
It’s apparent Cook took notes from late Apple co-founder/former CEO Steve Jobs, who also gave in abundance but did so more quietly. Nearly two years after his demise, Jobs’ widow Laurene Powell Jobs said her husband donated millions of dollars to California hospitals and HIV/AIDS research groups. She explained that they were careful about amplifying the work of others and did not like to attach their names to projects. One of her most notable projects is College Track, an organization she co-founded back in 1997.
Jobs’ attitude towards philanthropy is quite different from that of other billionaires, many of which enjoy sharing news of their charity donations. In 2011, there was a report that there was no public record of Jobs’ donations to charity. Jobs’ good friend and U2 frontman Bono wrote an article about the value of Steve Job’s contributions to stop AIDS in Africa.
