Steve Jobs and Tim Cook left very different legacies as Apple CEOs: Jobs introduced iconic products, while Cook strategized ways to make them generate big shareholder returns. Apple said this past week that Cook will step down as CEO in September, replaced by hardware engineering chief John Ternus.

Jobs formed Apple with Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne in 1976. Jobs left, returned as interim CEO in 1997, then permanent CEO in 2000. Under Jobs, Apple launched culturally defining products, including the iPod, the iMac, the iPad, and the big one, the iPhone. During Jobs’ CEO tenure, Apple stock surged 6,759%, according to Dow Jones Market Data, with sales increasing 21.5% annually.

Cook became CEO in 2011. Apple stock rose 1,932% in his nearly 15 years as CEO, compared with 504% for the S&P 500. That trailed Jobs, though Cook took over a much more successful company than Jobs had. In that same period, Samsung Electronics rose 1,415%, Lenovo Group 126%, and HP Inc..

Under Cook, Apple sales annually increased 10% and earnings per share 16%. Apple was the first U.S. company to top a series of market capitalizations: $1 trillion, in August 2018; $2 trillion, in August 2020; $3 trillion, in June 2023. The stock now has a market cap of $4 trillion. (Nvidia got there first.) Cook also led the charge into services, launching Apple Pay in 2014 and Apple Music in 2015. Services is now its highest-margin business.