
The post-Jobs era: Tim Cook brings philanthropy back to Apple - evo_9
http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2011/09/the-post-jobs-era-tim-cook-brings-philanthropy-back-to-apple.ars
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rmason
I believe the matching gifts was entirely Tim Cook's show.

However I think Jobs is planning on doing some significant philanthropy. I
don't believe he will leave it all to his family or simply write a check to a
charity.

I've thought about this a lot and I believe he's got something planned that
will be both innovative and backed by a significant chunk of his net worth.

He's certainly had a few years to reflect on how he wants to be remembered, a
gift not everyone receives. He's going to opt to enhance his considerable
legacy.

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pilsetnieks
It would actually be amazing if he gave some of the money to the Gates
foundation - as a way of showing that there are things that transcend
competition and that all in all they would all just like to make the world
better. (Also, let's face it, who else is even equipped to do billion-dollar
philantrophy?)

Still, I hope we're nowhere near the point when he has to do it.

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noisebleed
I always figured Jobs was trying to maintain a neutral position with regards
to charity, contributions, etc. It's hardly uncommon for people to donate to
personal causes anonymously to avoid the politics and potential perceived
tackiness with what's intended to be a generous act.

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adamesque
In town hall / all-hands meetings, the question of philanthropy (or other
moral issues, like environmental stewardship) came up a LOT during the 5 years
I spent at Apple.

The response was almost always "we're not looking for recognition for our good
deeds, so that's why it may appear as if we're not doing much".

That's why it took so long to get a public-facing "Apple and the Environment"
page; philanthropy does not come out of the marketing budget at Apple.

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ez77
Given the media frenzy around every new Mac product, I thought Apple needed no
marketing at all by now =).

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maukdaddy
I'm sure this was in the works before Jobs left. Even with its entrepreneurial
culture Apple is too big to roll something like this out in a couple of weeks.

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jordanlev
I wonder if this is part of Jobs' succession plan -- like he withheld some
easy things that he knew his successor would be able to do after he left to
get some initial good press?

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joshAg
I wouldn't put it past him to have several things that would generate good PR
ready to go at a moment's notice.

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Fjslfj
Maybe Jobs just felt that most non-profits are scammy and corrupt? Even (RED)
turned out to be grossly mismanaged.

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wooster
The "(RED) is mismanaged" meme is debatable, at best:

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_Red#Criticism>

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blah900
Headline in two weeks:

"Apple donates to anti-gay rights organization" (The Salvation Army is a
501c3)

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tumultco
This is a good idea. Practically no one would argue against charitable
matching, so it gives Tim Cook an early win with rank-and-file employees. As
COO, many within Apple have not interacted with Cook, so this popular move
helps establish loyalty and reduce leadership uncertainty.

In his first company-wide email as CEO he said, "I want you to be confident
that Apple is not going to change," yet Cook clearly knows he is not Steve
Jobs. This sets a marker to distinguish that his run of the company will be
different even if he is going to try to preserve Apple's DNA.

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mrspandex
This is a very common benefit for employees of large companies. It's
surprising to me that this is news.

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bsphil
Even the most mundane things become news if Apple does them.

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ja30278
bleh. So part of the price I pay for a Mac is now doled out to some charity of
Apple's choosing. How about they just cut prices by the total amount of the
match, and let me figure out where I'd like to donate.

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aberkowitz
I fail to see a correlation between an internal Apple policy, and the price of
their products.

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adamtmca
It's actually one of Friedman's classic arguments, poorly articulated.

[http://www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/libertarians/issues/fr...](http://www.colorado.edu/studentgroups/libertarians/issues/friedman-
soc-resp-business.html)

~~~
notahacker
Even Friedman's argument observes that some "socially responsible" spending
might actually be in the interests of a corporation's shareholders

Tim Cook offering a tax-deductible (I assume) employee benefit that has the
additional side effect of generating positive publicity probably falls into
that bracket.

