[bobcostas55]

During his tenure the market cap has increased by about $2 trillion. How much of that value has Cook captured? A very small %. Perhaps even smaller than his actual contribution! You could easily make the argument that Cook is being exploited by the shareholders.

[eptcyka]

What has been the remarkably great move from Apple in the last 10 years? Develop their iTunes store to provide more media and bring in-house productions to have a more of a moat? Develop their own silicon to decrease reliance on others? Develop products that can take advantage of their strengths, a la Tags? Move into services as most of the world is getting more Apple-product saturated? Extend ownership of their product lifecycles, by being hostile towards 3rd party repairs? Offer financial services to allow the less fortunate to obtain your products? I don't want to detract from the respect that's due for these moves, but they are not that far off the beaten path for a market leader looking to solidify it's position in it's place. Most other improvements to their products and services have been incremental. Of course, there is something to be said about not straying from the light, as other companies have done. However, I do think that Apple's valuation is somewhat tied to the buying power of the world, and on the timescale's we're looking at, more and more people are gaining access to Apples products as the world economy improves. All of these are great things, and of course I'm talking with hindsight, but to me these all feel like strategies that seem somewhat obvious and will generally work wonders when executed from the position of a market leader.