AppleInsider Staff
Time revealed on Monday that Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook is once again one of its finalists for the magazine's "Person of the Year" award, joining the likes of Alibaba CEO Jack Ma, Russian President Vladmir Putin, pop star Taylor Swift, Ebola caregivers, and protesters in Ferguson, Mo.
Cook is one of eight contenders on Time's "short list" of candidates that were revealed on its blog Monday afternoon. The Apple leader was recognized for not only unveiling a slew of new products in 2014, but also for disclosing his sexuality and becoming the first openly gay Fortune 500 CEO.
Time editor Nancy Gibbs discussed the finalists on the Today show on NBC Monday, and noted that the Auburn graduate has helped Apple to become the most valuable company in the world.
"Everyone wondered whether he could live up to Steve Jobs's legacy at Apple of reinventing whole categories regularly," Gibbs said. "With the Apple Watch, we think he stands a good chance of doing that."
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Cook was named a runner up for Time's Person of the Year in 2012, when the magazine credited him for inheriting Apple from the late, legendary Steve Jobs and truly making the company his own. Under the leadership of Cook, Apple's product sales and market value have skyrocketed to new heights, continuing a pace of continued growth few predicted.
In addition to Cook, the Ferguson protesters, Ebola caregivers, Putin, Ma, and Swift, the remaining 2014 Person of the Year finalists are National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell, and Masoud Barzani, the acting president of the Iraqi Kurdish Region since 2005. Readers have picked Indian prime Minister Narendra Modi as their preferred candidate.
Time's selection for person of the year will be announced by Gibbs on Today Wednesday morning.
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42 Comments
I think these lists are stupid. The only reason Tim is on the shortlist again is because he came out this year.
Given that Time didn’t give it to Steve the two years he most deserved it, who cares?
I think these lists are stupid. The only reason Tim is on the shortlist again is because he came out this year.
Agreed.
"Readers have picked Indian prime Minister Narendra Modi as their preferred candidate."
Uh, what? Someone has been stuffing the ballot. If the person of the year is somehow the embodiment of the biggest news stories of the year, there is no way Modi fits the bill--except in India of course.
I think these lists are stupid. The only reason Tim is on the shortlist again is because he came out this year.
couldn't possibly be because he's running the biggest, most successful company in the USA. nope. "It's cuz he's gay!"
also, coming out as the only openly gay Fortune 100 CEO of the biggest, most successful company in the USA is a pretty admirable thing. not sure if you know it, but a large percentage of the voter base in the US hates homosexuals, so it's not really a pleasant thing to deal with and has its own challenges, alienation, etc.
so either way, Cook is a great choice -- for business or civil reasons.
Given that Time didn’t give it to Steve the two years he most deserved it, who cares?
Wow, I just checked and Steve was never person of the year. Yet Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg are? What a load of crap.