Before he joined Apple, Tim Cook held a number of impressive positions at major tech companies: a 12-year tenure at IBM, as well as executive roles at Intelligent Electronics and Compaq. During his time at Compaq, which was then the world's largest PC seller, Cook had already turned down Apple recruiters multiple times, but their persistence finally paid off one day. Cook decided that he should at least meet with Steve Jobs, he told Charlie Rose in 2014. "Steve created the whole industry that I'm in," he said, adding that Jobs was "doing something totally different." When the two met for the first time, Jobs explained his strategy and vision for Apple. He described a product that would shake up the computing world, a design that would be unlike any computer seen before. (The product would later turn out to be the enormously successful iMac G3: The bulbous, colorful Macintosh launched in 1998, which put designer Jony Ive on the map.)

One CEO I consulted felt so strongly about it, he told me I would be a fool to leave Compaq for Apple. Tim Cook CEO, Apple