At the end of his presentation this morning at the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet Conference, Tim Cook was asked what he’s most proud of at Apple now that he’s had a full year under his belt as CEO.
Cook was emotional during his response and fought back some tears as he described the things that he’s been the most proud of during his past year at Apple. Above all, Cook said that he’s proud of his employees, but then he gushed for a few minutes on all the great things Apple’s doing, like taking a stand for workers in China.
“I’m most proud of our employees,” Cook said. “I have the privilege of working with people who want to make the very best products in the world. They’re there to do the best work in their lives. They’re the most creative people on earth. It’s the privilege of a lifetime to be at Apple and work with these people.”
Cook went on to say that he’s proud that Apple has the best smartphone, tablet, PC and digital music player on the market, and that he’s incredibly bullish about the future of Apple.
Then Cook dove into somethings that he’s been personally responsible for since his tenure at Apple, like improving working conditions in China and turning Apple into a more environmentally friendly company.
“I’m very proud that we’re out front. That we have a spine, and have taken responsibility with our supply chain. We’re going to do what’s right and we’re moving the ball forward. I’m proud that we’re better at being environmentally friendly, and that we have the largest solar farm anywhere and can run our data center on renewable energy.”
While Cook didn’t mention Foxconn specifically, it was pretty clear that he’s proud of his efforts to bring better working conditions to the Chinese workers who assemble the iPhone. Since he took over as CEO in 2011, Cook has made numerous trips to China, and Apple has raised wages for workers at Foxconn along with setting better guidelines so employees aren’t forced to work overtime, and underage labor is no longer as prevalent.
