Tim Cook Drops to 96th Place in ‘100 Highest Rated CEOs’ List

Tim Cook Auburn University Credit: Auburn University
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Apple CEO Tim Cook’s ranking in a crowdsourced list of executive approval ratings tumbled this week, according to a new report.

Glassdoor on Tuesday released its annual list of the 100 Highest Rated CEOs, which is based on anonymous employee reviews of their companies and its executives. And while tech industry rankings dropped across the board, Apple’s Cook took the hardest hit.

This year, Cook dropped 43 spots to number 96th place. It’s the largest drop for any CEO who previously placed on the list.

It’s also the second consecutive year that Cook saw a decreasing approval rating among employees. Glassdoor’s report from 2017 saw the Apple executive fall from 8th to 53rd place.

A Glassdoor spokesperson told Business Insider that Apple employees cited a few common criticisms about working for the company. The primary reasons for the negative feedback include Apple’s strict culture of secrecy, high stress, and the need to adhere to a strict chain of command.

Of course, it’s worth noting that 91 percent of Apple employees told Glassdoor that they still approve of Cook as a leader.

The average overall approval rating for any CEO on the list is around 67 percent.

Additionally, Apple employs much more retail staff than corporate staff. Basically, that means that the approval ratings might be disproportionately based on Apple retail staff opinions.

Again, Apple’s chief executive isn’t the only to take a tumble in the annual report. Google’s Sundar Pichai dropped 28 spots to 45th place — down from his position at 17th place last year. And Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg dropped about six spots. Which, to be honest, is a bit surprising in the wake of recent controversies and scandals concerning the company’s user data policies.

Still, despite the negative reviews, Apple has done extremely well with Cook at the helm. The company has consistently set new revenue and growth records in the last few years, despite a handful of setbacks and increased product delays.

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