Bloomberg carries a piece noting the astonishing gains made by Apple stockholders during the time when Tim Cook was CEO. The cumulative gain was 2,275% – or a total return of 2,736% when accounting for dividend payments also.

The site suggests this will make him a tough act to follow, but my own view is that new CEO John Ternus doesn’t have to emulate Cook’s management of the company …

There’s no disputing the numbers Bloomberg cites.

Cook inherited a company with a market capitalization of less than $350 billion and built the maker of iPhones and Mac computers into a diverse $4.6 trillion business that also sells watches, AirPods and financial services […] During his time as CEO, the shares climbed a whopping 2,736% on a total-return basis.

But my stance is that John Ternus shouldn’t for one moment worry about whether Apple will emulate this degree of financial success under his leadership – and there are two reasons for this.

First, both of his key predecessors argued that financial success is a side effect of the true goal, not something that should be chased directly. Steve Jobs famously said:

“If you focus on making really great products, then the profits will follow.”

Cook himself has echoed this philosophy, saying that he never worried about quarterly results, but instead focused on the long-term direction of the company.

Second, the advice Steve gave to Tim when he took over:

“Don’t ask what I would do. Just do the right thing.”

Ternus shouldn’t ask himself what either Jobs or Cook would have done. He should instead run Apple in the way that he thinks is most likely to see the successful development of the best possible products, and the evolution of the best company culture and values for long-term success.

I suspect he will be a very different CEO to Cook, just as Cook was to Jobs. The goal isn’t to try to emulate past formulae, but instead to look ahead and – to borrow a phrase from the outgoing CEO – follow his own North Star.

Do you share my view or have a different perspective? Please let us know your thoughts in the comments.

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