Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, Was an Early Pick for Hillary Clinton’s Vice President
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At one point in time during this already crazy election, there was a small possibility of Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, becoming an actual vice presidential candidate.
The report comes from an email allegedly stolen from John Podesta, Hillary Clinton’s campaign chair, and posted on Wikileaks. The email, dated March 17, 2016, contains a “first cut” list of people that were being considered as Clinton’s running mate, according to Gizmodo.
The list of potential vice presidential candidates was, according to the email, categorized in “rough food groups,” and contained many high-profile names, among them Apple CEO Tim Cook, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, his wife Melinda Gates, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz. The email was sent to Clinton, allegedly for her to add or remove names from the list before it went on to more substantial vetting, Fortune reported.
Of course, there’s really no telling how far the majority of these candidates got in the selection process — or even if they were aware that they were being considered by the campaign. Still, it’s interesting to see that the names of tech giants in the same league as politicians, military officers, and high-profile businesspeople in other industries.
The email was part of a larger dump of leaked information allegedly stolen from the Clinton campaign, the Democratic National Committee, and other sources. It was posted on WikiLeaks on Oct. 4 and was first spotted by Gizmodo. Currently, there’s no firm answer about the authenticity of the email, the Clinton campaign has yet to verify its legitimacy, and, so far, Apple and Microsoft have not provided any public comment.
Throughout history, vice presidential candidates are often selected from politicians in critical states, or from candidates with something significant to add to the ticket. If the email is indeed legitimate, it may show that the Clinton campaign was at least considering a businessperson for the position.
Of course, Tim Cook is probably perfectly content heading the ship at Apple, and due to his importance to the company, it’s unlikely that he would have dropped the role to go into politics.
[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]
