Tim Cook to join newly announced California Economic Task Force

Posted:
in General Discussion
As the California works to reopen amidst the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a new economic recovery task force whose ranks will include Apple CEO Tim Cook and Disney Executive Chairman Bob Iger.

Apple CEO Tim Cook will join more than 70 others as part of a new economic recovery task force in California.
Apple CEO Tim Cook will join more than 70 others as part of a new economic recovery task force in California.


The state of California and Gov. Newsom have largely been ahead of the broader coronavirus response in the U.S. Just a few days after shelter-in-place restrictions were implemented across many San Francisco Bay Area counties, the governor issued a statewide stay-at-home order on March 19, making California the first in the nation to do so.

The goal of the task force, which will meet twice a month through 2020, is to help the Californian economy recover from the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, CNBC reported. It will be co-chaired by billionaire philanthropist Tom Steyer and Newsom chief of staff Ann O'Leary, and will include more than 70 members including Cook.

Cook, along with more than 50 other business executives, has also been tapped by President Donald Trump to help devise a plan to reopen the U.S. economy after the coronavirus pandemic.

California has the fifth largest economy in the world, but Gov. Newsom on Friday acknowledged the significant impact that COVID-19 has had on the state. In the last month, more than 2.7 million Californians filed for unemployment and projections indicate that the unemployment rate could top records set during the Great Recession.

News of Cook's involvement with the task force comes just one day after the Apple chief executive held an all-hands virtual meeting to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on the company. During that meeting, Cook expressed confidence that Apple would emerge strongly from the crisis.

Among U.S. states, Apple's operations mark its largest footprint in California. The Cupertino-based tech giant has 36,786 employees and 53 retail stores in the state. California also has the highest concentration of both Apple suppliers and app economy jobs.

As of Friday, April 17, the California Health Department has recorded a relatively low 28,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 970 deaths. The current stay-at-home orders in the state are set to continue through May 3, though they may be extended.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 19
    entropysentropys Posts: 4,166member
    I think I would be more enthusiastic if these politicians were engaging less corporate executives and more small business operators to develop strategies for rebuilding economies.

    News of Cook's involvement with the task force comes just one day after the Apple chief executive held an all-hands virtual meeting to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on the company. During that meeting, Cook expressed confidence that Apple would emerge strongly from the crisis.

    I would love to know what tools were used for this. MS teams?
    edited April 2020 foregoneconclusion
  • Reply 2 of 19
    It's not very hard to be a philanthropist when you're a billionaire.
  • Reply 3 of 19
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    I think even Tim Cook would be a better governor of California than the insipid car salesman we have now in Newsom.
  • Reply 4 of 19
    macxpressmacxpress Posts: 5,808member
    It's not very hard to be a philanthropist when you're a billionaire.

    Honestly, its not that hard to give even for normal people. You don't always have to donate millions to make a difference.
    steven n.mwhite
  • Reply 5 of 19
    steven n.steven n. Posts: 1,229member
    It's not very hard to be a philanthropist when you're a billionaire.
    It’s hard to become a billionaire though. Very hard.

    It’s also easy for the regular person to help out those around them. 
    Xed
  • Reply 6 of 19
    Great, just what we need.  Another greedy corporate executive that loves to give American jobs to foreigners on H1-B visas so they can get rich off the cheap labor.  No wonder American graduates can't pay off their student loans.  Now unemployment is through the roof but yet, we continue to import more foreigners to take American jobs.  End the abuse now!
    edited April 2020
  • Reply 7 of 19
    M68000M68000 Posts: 725member
    So Tim Cook has left Apple?  /s.   That comment was just a joke,  but it's not a joke to say that I don't understand how the CEO of a huge company like Apple has time for anything else...  sorry, not getting it...  but if somehow he has time,  good luck Tim Cook.   Most CEO's I think have little time for anything besides the company they are involved with from what I've observed.

    edited April 2020
  • Reply 8 of 19
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member
    It's not very hard to be a philanthropist when you're a billionaire.
    I would be a bad philanthropist, even if I were a billionaire.

    I'd probably give a little bit, but only to a select few, and to those who would meet my requirements. Many people would be excluded.
  • Reply 9 of 19
    Ugh, on the one hand I wish Cook would stop sucking up to Trump, on the other hand at least he's a competent person in the room. Though I imagine these meetings aren't going to amount to much more than the CEOs calling each other on the phone afterward and saying WTF was that!?
  • Reply 10 of 19
    macxpress said: Honestly, its not that hard to give even for normal people. You don't always have to donate millions to make a difference.
    The only people that get the "philanthropist" title from the media are the ones that give millions/billions. Also, that giving is typically done through foundations, which are a sophisticated form of tax shelter. It's not something they do without self-interest. It's like Bill Gates: the media always talks about his philanthropical foundation as if he's "giving away his fortune", when in reality the tax breaks generated from the foundation have kept him right near the top of the world's wealthiest people. 
    razorpit
  • Reply 11 of 19

    steven n. said: It’s hard to become a billionaire though. Very hard.
    Mark Cuban: became a billionaire overnight through the sale of Broadcast.com to Yahoo! during the late 1990s internet bubble. That sale is considered to be one of the worst deals of an era that was notorious for people throwing their money away. Broadcast.com was nothing more than internet radio stations combined with a very rudimentary version of internet video streaming. They didn't have a substantial revenue stream or customer base. They didn't have any proprietary technology of value. Yet Cuban became a billionaire because the management of Yahoo! were idiots.  
    edited April 2020 gatorguySpamSandwichrazorpit
  • Reply 12 of 19

    Fine to see Tim so involved.
    This comforts him more - being busy with FaceShields and social improvement rather than AirTile, AirPower, AppleHeadphone, AirPodsPro Lite, AppleGlasses, AppleCar, iTV, MacBook 14”, iMac, HomePod 2020 etc.
    It seems the worries and complications with getting products shipped are not his thing (look at the recent mehpgrades Mac Mini, iPad Mini 5, iPad Pro 2020, remaining bezel designs, quality problems...)
    This CEO merely shows his compassion with things outside Apple - which translates into an organisation with less dedication, the hughest/most successful tech bureaucracy on the planet - but a fanbase feeling deserted/left with little excitement.
    What happened with design after Joni’s demise ? Why did a whole department get lamented since ? What happend to Marc Newson (an legend designer w/o any major Apple design on his name ?)

    All the supplemental stuff (services, Netflix streaming, contracting music stars, getting Oprah on stage, heading all kinds of side activities) only seem distractions from the essence of a product company that he has got himself disconnected from for some time.
    Hopefully Tim’s government involvement will become of a mere permanent nature - making room for a product-oriented CEO

  • Reply 13 of 19
    steven n.steven n. Posts: 1,229member

    steven n. said: It’s hard to become a billionaire though. Very hard.
    Mark Cuban: became a billionaire overnight through the sale of Broadcast.com to Yahoo! during the late 1990s internet bubble. That sale is considered to be one of the worst deals of an era that was notorious for people throwing their money away. Broadcast.com was nothing more than internet radio stations combined with a very rudimentary version of internet video streaming. They didn't have a substantial revenue stream or customer base. They didn't have any proprietary technology of value. Yet Cuban became a billionaire because the management of Yahoo! were idiots.  
    I guess you proved it is super easy, barely an inconvenience to become a billionaire. So you should do it.

    Oh wait, you are being Captain Hindsight. Nothing you wrote indicates Mark put forth no effort, didn’t work his a$$ off to get to his position or wasn’t skilled at negotiating.

    So again, it is mind-numbingly hard to be really successful and even harder to be super successful. 
  • Reply 14 of 19
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    It's not very hard to be a philanthropist when you're a billionaire.
    Laurene Powell Jobs has a net worth around $21 billion. Tim Cook isn’t even acknowledged to be a billionaire. If he one day were to sell all his AAPL, he probably would exceed $1 billion net worth.
    edited April 2020 razorpit
  • Reply 15 of 19
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,212member
    steven n. said:

    steven n. said: It’s hard to become a billionaire though. Very hard.
    Mark Cuban: became a billionaire overnight through the sale of Broadcast.com to Yahoo! during the late 1990s internet bubble. That sale is considered to be one of the worst deals of an era that was notorious for people throwing their money away. Broadcast.com was nothing more than internet radio stations combined with a very rudimentary version of internet video streaming. They didn't have a substantial revenue stream or customer base. They didn't have any proprietary technology of value. Yet Cuban became a billionaire because the management of Yahoo! were idiots.  
    I guess you proved it is super easy, barely an inconvenience to become a billionaire. So you should do it.

    Oh wait, you are being Captain Hindsight. Nothing you wrote indicates Mark put forth no effort, didn’t work his a$$ off to get to his position or wasn’t skilled at negotiating.

    So again, it is mind-numbingly hard to be really successful and even harder to be super successful. 
    ... and the amount of luck involved is grossly underrated. 
    razorpit
  • Reply 16 of 19
    steven n.steven n. Posts: 1,229member
    gatorguy said:
    steven n. said:

    steven n. said: It’s hard to become a billionaire though. Very hard.
    Mark Cuban: became a billionaire overnight through the sale of Broadcast.com to Yahoo! during the late 1990s internet bubble. That sale is considered to be one of the worst deals of an era that was notorious for people throwing their money away. Broadcast.com was nothing more than internet radio stations combined with a very rudimentary version of internet video streaming. They didn't have a substantial revenue stream or customer base. They didn't have any proprietary technology of value. Yet Cuban became a billionaire because the management of Yahoo! were idiots.  
    I guess you proved it is super easy, barely an inconvenience to become a billionaire. So you should do it.

    Oh wait, you are being Captain Hindsight. Nothing you wrote indicates Mark put forth no effort, didn’t work his a$$ off to get to his position or wasn’t skilled at negotiating.

    So again, it is mind-numbingly hard to be really successful and even harder to be super successful. 
    ... and the amount of luck involved is grossly underrated. 
    That’s simply platitudes people unwilling to put forth effort and lack the insight say to feel better about themselves. The truth is making use of the “lucky break” is far from intuitive and the overwhelming vast majority of people (as in >99%) would be unable to correctly capitalize on the luck they were granted. 
  • Reply 17 of 19
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,212member
    steven n. said:
    gatorguy said:
    steven n. said:

    steven n. said: It’s hard to become a billionaire though. Very hard.
    Mark Cuban: became a billionaire overnight through the sale of Broadcast.com to Yahoo! during the late 1990s internet bubble. That sale is considered to be one of the worst deals of an era that was notorious for people throwing their money away. Broadcast.com was nothing more than internet radio stations combined with a very rudimentary version of internet video streaming. They didn't have a substantial revenue stream or customer base. They didn't have any proprietary technology of value. Yet Cuban became a billionaire because the management of Yahoo! were idiots.  
    I guess you proved it is super easy, barely an inconvenience to become a billionaire. So you should do it.

    Oh wait, you are being Captain Hindsight. Nothing you wrote indicates Mark put forth no effort, didn’t work his a$$ off to get to his position or wasn’t skilled at negotiating.

    So again, it is mind-numbingly hard to be really successful and even harder to be super successful. 
    ... and the amount of luck involved is grossly underrated. 
    That’s simply platitudes people unwilling to put forth effort and lack the insight say to feel better about themselves. The truth is making use of the “lucky break” is far from intuitive and the overwhelming vast majority of people (as in >99%) would be unable to correctly capitalize on the luck they were granted. 
    You should read this.
    https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/beautiful-minds/the-role-of-luck-in-life-success-is-far-greater-than-we-realized/

    Science probably trumps "I think...".
    edited April 2020
  • Reply 18 of 19
    AppleZuluAppleZulu Posts: 2,006member
    M68000 said:
    So Tim Cook has left Apple?  /s.   That comment was just a joke,  but it's not a joke to say that I don't understand how the CEO of a huge company like Apple has time for anything else...  sorry, not getting it...  but if somehow he has time,  good luck Tim Cook.   Most CEO's I think have little time for anything besides the company they are involved with from what I've observed.

    When the entire world economy around a huge company like Apple is, to understate the problem, in significant disarray, the CEO of said huge company has enormous interest in helping correct that problem. It would be a dereliction of duty not to participate in that process. 
  • Reply 19 of 19
    razorpitrazorpit Posts: 1,796member
    gatorguy said:
    steven n. said:

    steven n. said: It’s hard to become a billionaire though. Very hard.
    Mark Cuban: became a billionaire overnight through the sale of Broadcast.com to Yahoo! during the late 1990s internet bubble. That sale is considered to be one of the worst deals of an era that was notorious for people throwing their money away. Broadcast.com was nothing more than internet radio stations combined with a very rudimentary version of internet video streaming. They didn't have a substantial revenue stream or customer base. They didn't have any proprietary technology of value. Yet Cuban became a billionaire because the management of Yahoo! were idiots.  
    I guess you proved it is super easy, barely an inconvenience to become a billionaire. So you should do it.

    Oh wait, you are being Captain Hindsight. Nothing you wrote indicates Mark put forth no effort, didn’t work his a$$ off to get to his position or wasn’t skilled at negotiating.

    So again, it is mind-numbingly hard to be really successful and even harder to be super successful. 
    ... and the amount of luck involved is grossly underrated. 
    Yep. https://www.amazon.com/Outliers-The-Story-of-Success/dp/B001LNK9C4/ref=sr_1_2?crid=20NZUID4NUT40&dchild=1&keywords=outliers+malcolm+gladwell&qid=1587305750&sprefix=Outli%2Caps%2C164&sr=8-2

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