Tim Cook had some incredibly large shoes to fill when he took over as Apple's CEO after Steve Jobs ' illness and eventual passing in 2011. Tim Cook helped Apple become one of the most valuable companies in the world, with an unbelievable recent market cap of nearly $800 billion. While Apple has been criticized as of late for not leading the charge in new technology (facing stiff competition in that department from Google , Samsung, Microsoft , Tesla, and Amazon to name a few), Tim Cook has displayed incredible business acumen and leadership. This has led to record-breaking profitability and growth.