For the Good of Apple, The Shareholders Need to Step In
Private corporations and their CEOs are free to advocate for any issues that they’d like. However, they need to be prepared to accept any consequences that may entail, which is why most corporations try to stay away from speaking out on political issues. There is no financial upside to upsetting half of your customer base.
Tim Cook, however, is trying to advocate for liberal causes while trying to maintain the façade that he’s not getting political. He can’t have it both ways. By the sin of omission, he makes it very clear that he’s politically motivated and not simply trying to uphold “Apple’s Values”. As he said recently:
Business to me is nothing more than a collection of people. If people should have values, then by extension a company should have values…. We don’t get into politics with any of this. We stick to policy: how are people treated, what is the immigration policy. These are things that we stick to. We work with people from both parties and no parties. At some points, one party will like what we do, other times the other one will. — Tim Cook
Tim states that Apple avoids politics and sticks to policy, like “how people are treated”. However, that is a completely generic and open-ended value. By that definition, Tim could advocate for almost any liberal issue he wants. And yet, he ignores issues that fit his definition but are actually more egregious violations, like abortion.
Steve Jobs is famous for stating that he believed that Apple was on a mission to help humans fulfill their potential. Apple was creating “bicycles for the mind” to leverage our creative powers. Tim Cook uses this as a jumping off point for why Apple needs to advocate for helping people achieve their potential. This includes allowing refugees from Muslim nations to come into America. But isn’t the ultimate violation of “Apple Values” the fact that millions of human lives are being snuffed out every year in America’s abortion clinics. What greater travesty is there to unfulfilled human potential than this? And yet, Apple is silent?
I’m not saying that Apple should crusade against abortion. I’m just pointing out that Tim Cook is silent on issues that would offend Democrats even if they fit Tim’s loose definition of “Apple’s Values”.
Then there’s the issue of border control. Try visiting Apple’s new campus and wandering the halls of the mother ship unannounced and unaccompanied. Trust me, you won’t get very far before black-shirted security personnel pounce on you faster than a cat chasing a mouse. I’ve also heard reports that at their annual press events, they will line their employees along every hallway to ensure that no one veers from the pre-approved path. Strict border control is the name of the game at Apple.
It’s obvious that one of “Apple’s Values” is good security to minimize potential threats. And yet, Tim Cook was vocal in criticizing Donald Trump when he tried to enforce a similar policy on Muslim nations where airport security was lax. The Trump administration simply told these nations that until they improved their airport and visa controls, we weren’t going to admit visitors from their airports. Why? Because the first step in controlling your visitors is knowing who they are.
So Tim Cook, by the issues that he picks and chooses, is obviously using the podium afforded by Apple’s success to crusade for left-wing issues. Which he’s free to do. Just don’t say that you’re NOT being political. You are. However, the problem arises in that over half of his customer base is likely right-wing.
Apple doesn’t cater to the low-price crowd. That is Android’s gig. Apple strives to produce the best products it can, and it won’t be cheap. If you were to take a political poll of Apple’s customer base, it would skew more conservative Republican than liberal Democrat. Steve Jobs wisely steered clear of politics primarily because of this even though he was a liberal. He understood the reality on the ground.
One thing that I found out when I graduated from college was that corporate America is overwhelmingly conservative. Most of employees in the finance department, engineering, and management in the heartland all vote Republican. And now today, most corporate workers use iPhones. These are high-paid salary positions, and corporations prefer the high quality and security that Apple devices provide.
So Tim Cook is treading on dangerous ground if he insists on turning Apple into a corporation that will become synonymous with left-wing crusades. This is a turn off for more than half of his customers. The Target Corporation dabbled with left-wing politics and was hammered by their customers. I see no threat to Apple on the horizon bigger than Tim Cook’s new love of liberal evangelizing. This threat is big enough to warrant that shareholders demand the board replace him. And if the board is stacked with political partisans like Al Gore who are more interested in politics than running a corporation, they should be replaced too.
Tim Cook isn’t a product guy. He’s a good manager. He can be replaced. Apple’s customers can’t. Once a customer rage quits your products, they won’t come back. And even if they won’t quit, they will stop evangelizing for Apple. Apple picks up a huge number of Android converts every quarter due to current customers who rave about how great their Apple experience is. At best, conservative Republican iPhone users will stop recommending Apple to their friends.
I’ve reached my tipping point with Tim Cook. He needs to go. For two years now, he’s been placing liberal Democratic issues above his fiduciary duty to his shareholders. Tim Cook doesn’t answer to Nancy Pelosi or Chuck Schumer, he answers to the shareholders. The shareholders need to start holding their board of directors accountable for not keeping their dog on a leash.
Business to me is nothing more than a collection of people. If people should have values, then by extension a company should have values…. We don’t get into politics with any of this. We stick to policy: how are people treated, what is the immigration policy. These are things that we stick to. We work with people from both parties and no parties. At some points, one party will like what we do, other times the other one will. — Tim Cook
Tim states that Apple avoids politics and sticks to policy, like “how people are treated”. However, that is a completely generic and open-ended value. By that definition, Tim could advocate for almost any liberal issue he wants. And yet, he ignores issues that fit his definition but are actually more egregious violations, like abortion.
Steve Jobs is famous for stating that he believed that Apple was on a mission to help humans fulfill their potential. Apple was creating “bicycles for the mind” to leverage our creative powers. Tim Cook uses this as a jumping off point for why Apple needs to advocate for helping people achieve their potential. This includes allowing refugees from Muslim nations to come into America. But isn’t the ultimate violation of “Apple Values” the fact that millions of human lives are being snuffed out every year in America’s abortion clinics. What greater travesty is there to unfulfilled human potential than this? And yet, Apple is silent?
I’m not saying that Apple should crusade against abortion. I’m just pointing out that Tim Cook is silent on issues that would offend Democrats even if they fit Tim’s loose definition of “Apple’s Values”.
Then there’s the issue of border control. Try visiting Apple’s new campus and wandering the halls of the mother ship unannounced and unaccompanied. Trust me, you won’t get very far before black-shirted security personnel pounce on you faster than a cat chasing a mouse. I’ve also heard reports that at their annual press events, they will line their employees along every hallway to ensure that no one veers from the pre-approved path. Strict border control is the name of the game at Apple.
It’s obvious that one of “Apple’s Values” is good security to minimize potential threats. And yet, Tim Cook was vocal in criticizing Donald Trump when he tried to enforce a similar policy on Muslim nations where airport security was lax. The Trump administration simply told these nations that until they improved their airport and visa controls, we weren’t going to admit visitors from their airports. Why? Because the first step in controlling your visitors is knowing who they are.
So Tim Cook, by the issues that he picks and chooses, is obviously using the podium afforded by Apple’s success to crusade for left-wing issues. Which he’s free to do. Just don’t say that you’re NOT being political. You are. However, the problem arises in that over half of his customer base is likely right-wing.
Apple doesn’t cater to the low-price crowd. That is Android’s gig. Apple strives to produce the best products it can, and it won’t be cheap. If you were to take a political poll of Apple’s customer base, it would skew more conservative Republican than liberal Democrat. Steve Jobs wisely steered clear of politics primarily because of this even though he was a liberal. He understood the reality on the ground.
One thing that I found out when I graduated from college was that corporate America is overwhelmingly conservative. Most of employees in the finance department, engineering, and management in the heartland all vote Republican. And now today, most corporate workers use iPhones. These are high-paid salary positions, and corporations prefer the high quality and security that Apple devices provide.
So Tim Cook is treading on dangerous ground if he insists on turning Apple into a corporation that will become synonymous with left-wing crusades. This is a turn off for more than half of his customers. The Target Corporation dabbled with left-wing politics and was hammered by their customers. I see no threat to Apple on the horizon bigger than Tim Cook’s new love of liberal evangelizing. This threat is big enough to warrant that shareholders demand the board replace him. And if the board is stacked with political partisans like Al Gore who are more interested in politics than running a corporation, they should be replaced too.
Tim Cook isn’t a product guy. He’s a good manager. He can be replaced. Apple’s customers can’t. Once a customer rage quits your products, they won’t come back. And even if they won’t quit, they will stop evangelizing for Apple. Apple picks up a huge number of Android converts every quarter due to current customers who rave about how great their Apple experience is. At best, conservative Republican iPhone users will stop recommending Apple to their friends.
I’ve reached my tipping point with Tim Cook. He needs to go. For two years now, he’s been placing liberal Democratic issues above his fiduciary duty to his shareholders. Tim Cook doesn’t answer to Nancy Pelosi or Chuck Schumer, he answers to the shareholders. The shareholders need to start holding their board of directors accountable for not keeping their dog on a leash.
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