Apple CEO Tim Cook was business-focused at an early age

As the head of a major tech company, Tim Cook has a lot of experience dealing with business decisions and with money. In an interview discussing his upbringing, he reveals that he helped improve his education by taking jobs at a very young stage in his life.

Speaking to WSJ Magazine in a video, Cook said "Throwing papers helped start my college education." He became the first person in his family to ever attend college, thanks to that job.

"Everybody was expected to work in my family," he recounts. "I'd get up at about 3 in the morning, pick up the stack of papers and start throwing. And I'd usually come back and take a nap before school."

How much Cook earned from that job wasn't revealed, but it wasn't his only one. CNBC reports he also worked at a pharmacy on a part-time basis, earning more ahead of going to Auburn University.

Tuition at Auburn was $660 per year for in-state students at the time. Scaled up for inflation, that's about $2,670, well below the $12,900 per year that Auburn currently costs.

After attending college and graduating in 1982, he worked for IBM for 12 years, becoming the director of North American Fulfillment. When he became a vice president in Compaq, he met Steve Jobs and eventually joined Apple itself by 1998.

"I knew that being able to [attend college] was a privilege that I needed not to waste," Cook adds. "Everybody saw college in those days, and hopefully today, as opening many doors."

Today, Tim Cook's Apple is continuing to provide educational opportunities to younger generations to help them grow. Along with Apple's Education store, it offers resources and grants to teachers, and operates various programs that aid students in a number of different fields.