Tim Cook pledges relief aid to Beirut

AppleInsider

Apple is to support both the "immediate needs" and "long-term support" of relief organizations in Beirut, following the explosion that claimed at least 137 lives.

Tim Cook

Apple CEO Tim Cook has announced via a tweet that the company is to donate to help with the relief efforts in Lebanon. He doesn't specify amounts, but implies that it's more than a one-off donation.

Apple is donating to relief organizations that are helping with immediate needs and long-term support in Beirut. We grieve with the people of Lebanon, our employees and all those affected by the tragedy.

-- Tim Cook (@tim_cook)

August 7, 2020

As yet, the announcement is solely on Cook's Twitter account. There are no further details on Apple's website.

The donation comes after many previous ones, most recently when Apple announced that it would be donating its share of earnings from the "John Lewis: Good Trouble" documentary to the National Civil Rights Museum and National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Apple has also given unspecified support to the rebuilding of France's Notre Dame cathedral. In April 2020, Cook announced that Apple was donating $10 million to support the World Health Organization's COVID-19 fundraiser.

randominternetperson

It would be an interesting question for the next shareholders meeting: what process and criteria does Apple use to decide when and how to support disaster relief and other charitable efforts?  Hopefully it’s more rigorous than whatever Cook or other top executives happens to be enthusiastic about. 

rayz2016

randominternetperson said:

It would be an interesting question for the next shareholders meeting: what process and criteria does Apple use to decide when and how to support disaster relief and other charitable efforts?  Hopefully it’s more rigorous than whatever Cook or other top executives happens to be enthusiastic about. 

What’s wrong with giving to charities they’re enthusiastic about?

spamsandwich

randominternetperson said:

It would be an interesting question for the next shareholders meeting: what process and criteria does Apple use to decide when and how to support disaster relief and other charitable efforts?  Hopefully it’s more rigorous than whatever Cook or other top executives happens to be enthusiastic about. 

Cook seems unusually eager throw company and shareholder money at his many “causes du jour”. Any other CEO would be sued by shareholders for misappropriation of funds. It’s an irresponsible use of money. Doesn’t matter how many billions they have in the bank. I’d rather take this “free cash” they seem to not know how to use and spend it as part of an increased dividend.

edited August 2020

macquadra840av

Rayz2016 said:

randominternetperson said:

It would be an interesting question for the next shareholders meeting: what process and criteria does Apple use to decide when and how to support disaster relief and other charitable efforts?  Hopefully it’s more rigorous than whatever Cook or other top executives happens to be enthusiastic about. 

What’s wrong with giving to charities they’re enthusiastic about?

I think people would feel better if Apple donated more to the fight against COVID to assist with finding a vaccine so we can restore normal lives, restore the economy, and help restore people back to work, rather than give money to a country that had an unfortunate fire that killed about 150 people.  Currently 722K people have died from COVID and it continues to spread like crazy in the US, but Apple wants to give money to another country that had a fire.  How about helping our own country for a change...like getting rid of this awful pandemic?

bloggerblog

Good to see Apple stand out from the pack and help where help is needed rather than worry about their image.
+1 Tim!!

flydog

SpamSandwich said:

randominternetperson said:

It would be an interesting question for the next shareholders meeting: what process and criteria does Apple use to decide when and how to support disaster relief and other charitable efforts?  Hopefully it’s more rigorous than whatever Cook or other top executives happens to be enthusiastic about. 

Cook seems unusually eager throw company and shareholder money at his many “causes du jour”. Any other CEO would be sued by shareholders for misappropriation of funds. It’s an irresponsible use of money. Doesn’t matter how many billions they have in the bank. I’d rather take this “free cash” they seem to not know how to use and spend it as part of an increased dividend.

If Apple had used the $10 million it gave to WHO to increase the dividend, it would have paid an extra $5 to someone who owns $1 million in Apple stock.

What's amazing is that people complain about a company doing good for a change. 

Give it a rest. 

edited August 2020

spamsandwich

MacQuadra840av said:

Rayz2016 said:

randominternetperson said:

It would be an interesting question for the next shareholders meeting: what process and criteria does Apple use to decide when and how to support disaster relief and other charitable efforts?  Hopefully it’s more rigorous than whatever Cook or other top executives happens to be enthusiastic about. 

What’s wrong with giving to charities they’re enthusiastic about?

I think people would feel better if Apple donated more to the fight against COVID to assist with finding a vaccine so we can restore normal lives, restore the economy, and help restore people back to work, rather than give money to a country that had an unfortunate fire that killed about 150 people.  Currently 722K people have died from COVID and it continues to spread like crazy in the US, but Apple wants to give money to another country that had a fire.  How about helping our own country for a change...like getting rid of this awful pandemic?

Apple is not a piggy bank for the CEO or the Board of Directors. This is why Cook should quit and go into politics. He’s in the wrong job now.

yojimbo007

randominternetperson said:

It would be an interesting question for the next shareholders meeting: what process and criteria does Apple use to decide when and how to support disaster relief and other charitable efforts?  Hopefully it’s more rigorous than whatever Cook or other top executives happens to be enthusiastic about. 

ߑＦlt;br>Give it a break Kirk.... trying to poke a hole even in good things.

edited August 2020

dewme

SpamSandwich said:

MacQuadra840av said:

Rayz2016 said:

randominternetperson said:

It would be an interesting question for the next shareholders meeting: what process and criteria does Apple use to decide when and how to support disaster relief and other charitable efforts?  Hopefully it’s more rigorous than whatever Cook or other top executives happens to be enthusiastic about. 

What’s wrong with giving to charities they’re enthusiastic about?

I think people would feel better if Apple donated more to the fight against COVID to assist with finding a vaccine so we can restore normal lives, restore the economy, and help restore people back to work, rather than give money to a country that had an unfortunate fire that killed about 150 people.  Currently 722K people have died from COVID and it continues to spread like crazy in the US, but Apple wants to give money to another country that had a fire.  How about helping our own country for a change...like getting rid of this awful pandemic?

Apple is not a piggy bank for the CEO or the Board of Directors. This is why Cook should quit and go into politics. He’s in the wrong job now.

Hmm. The current administration has shown a total lack of separation between governance, politics, fiscal policy, and support of free market economics. There is nothing remotely "normal" in just about everything that is happening today so it's not really fair to pin Apple/Cook to a standard of normalcy when the leader of the free world is running open-loop with no semblance of a connection to reality or adherence to anything resembling expected protocols or standards.

rayz2016

SpamSandwich said:

randominternetperson said:

It would be an interesting question for the next shareholders meeting: what process and criteria does Apple use to decide when and how to support disaster relief and other charitable efforts?  Hopefully it’s more rigorous than whatever Cook or other top executives happens to be enthusiastic about. 

Cook seems unusually eager throw company and shareholder money at his many “causes du jour”. Any other CEO would be sued by shareholders for misappropriation of funds. It’s an irresponsible use of money. Doesn’t matter how many billions they have in the bank. I’d rather take this “free cash” they seem to not know how to use and spend it as part of an increased dividend.

Yup, don’t help foreigners. We get it. 

rayz2016

MacQuadra840av said:

Rayz2016 said:

randominternetperson said:

It would be an interesting question for the next shareholders meeting: what process and criteria does Apple use to decide when and how to support disaster relief and other charitable efforts?  Hopefully it’s more rigorous than whatever Cook or other top executives happens to be enthusiastic about. 

What’s wrong with giving to charities they’re enthusiastic about?

I think people would feel better if Apple donated more to the fight against COVID to assist with finding a vaccine so we can restore normal lives, restore the economy, and help restore people back to work, rather than give money to a country that had an unfortunate fire that killed about 150 people.  Currently 722K people have died from COVID and it continues to spread like crazy in the US, but Apple wants to give money to another country that had a fire.  How about helping our own country for a change...like getting rid of this awful pandemic?

https://www.theverge.com/2020/4/15/21222717/apple-product-red-coronavirus-donations-announced

The fire killed 150 people but injured 3000 more, so immediate help is needed in a country that is already struggling to cope with the COVID pandemic. 

Because the pandemic impacts the global economy then no expense is being spared by governments and pharmaceuticals in finding effective treatments or vaccines. Apple donating money here will make little difference: it’s going to take as long as it takes. 

And there is little Apple can do to help the US more than it’s already doing (making sure it is paying its furloughed employees as well as paying third-party contractors who don’t actually work directly  for them). 

Your country isn’t poor. Your country is one of the richest on the planet. Other countries with far less resources have done a much better job of getting the virus under some semblance of control. Why is that?

Instead of choosing a president with experience of … well, of anything really (though I’m probably being unfair here because three million more Americans  voted for Clinton than Trump), you decided to let a dysfunctional game show host run your country. And as you can see from some people here, any amount of  personal loss and economic damage wrought on the American people is fine as long as this whining man-baby keeps the Blacks in their place, the Mexicans out, and sticking it to the Chinese. 

Your country has more resources to deal with this crisis than almost any other. It doesn’t need Apple’s help, because the way the pandemic is being handled (handing billions to huge companies which laid off staff anyway) is precisely the way you voted for it to be handled. 

This, basically, is what you wanted. 

If Apple started giving aid to help people in the world’s wealthiest democracy, then that would be tantamount to calling the government incompetent. It would an insult to American democracy. 

As the president himself said: “It is what it is.”

So Americans will just have to live with it. 

Or possibly recover from it. 

Or possibly survive with long-term health problems as a result of it. 

Or possibly lose everything because  of it. 

Or possibly die from it. 

edited August 2020

michelb76

SpamSandwich said:

randominternetperson said:

It would be an interesting question for the next shareholders meeting: what process and criteria does Apple use to decide when and how to support disaster relief and other charitable efforts?  Hopefully it’s more rigorous than whatever Cook or other top executives happens to be enthusiastic about. 

Cook seems unusually eager throw company and shareholder money at his many “causes du jour”. Any other CEO would be sued by shareholders for misappropriation of funds. It’s an irresponsible use of money. Doesn’t matter how many billions they have in the bank. I’d rather take this “free cash” they seem to not know how to use and spend it as part of an increased dividend.

I think it's very good for Apple's branding, so money not wasted. I think companies the size of Apple, amazon, microsoft, facebook have a huge social responsibility since they profit immensely from all kinds of perks and legal constructions.

fastasleep

SpamSandwich said:

randominternetperson said:

It would be an interesting question for the next shareholders meeting: what process and criteria does Apple use to decide when and how to support disaster relief and other charitable efforts?  Hopefully it’s more rigorous than whatever Cook or other top executives happens to be enthusiastic about. 

Cook seems unusually eager throw company and shareholder money at his many “causes du jour”. Any other CEO would be sued by shareholders for misappropriation of funds. It’s an irresponsible use of money. Doesn’t matter how many billions they have in the bank. I’d rather take this “free cash” they seem to not know how to use and spend it as part of an increased dividend.

So bizarre. It's not your money to claim any sort of governance over.