There are now new bosses at Apple and Google this week — but who are Tim Cook and Larry Page?
We know how they got their respective top spots.
First, Steve Jobs announced he would take an indefinite medical leave from Apple — leaving chief operating officer Tim Cook to run the company while he's gone. Then Eric Schmidt announced Thursday that he will step down as Google's chief executive, with Larry Page, the search giant's co-founder, primed to replace him in April.
Cook and Page are taking the reins at a time when their respective companies are white hot, with quarterly reports that make Wall Street investors salivate.
Below, a quick Wrap primer on Page and Cook — suddenly two of the most powerful figures in tech media.
NAME: Larry Page
AGE: 37
BORN: March 26, 1973 in East Lansing, Michigan
RESIDES: San Francisco
EDUCATION: Bachelor of Science, computer engineering, engineering, University of Michigan; Master’s degree, computer science, Stanford University
MARITAL STATUS: Married to wife Lucinda Southworth, a research scientist and sister of actress/model Carrie Southworth
TITLE: Co-founder and chief executive, Google
BIO: Google’s founding CEO; grew the company to more than 200 employees and profitability before relinquishing the CEO role to Schmidt in 2001, taking the title “president of products.” Son of Michigan State University computer science professor Dr. Carl Victor Page. According to Page’s official Google bio, “Larry’s love of computers began at age six.” While enrolled in Stanford's Ph.D. program for computer science, Page met Google co-founder Sergey Brin. They launched the company together in 1998.
PERSONAL WEALTH: $15 billion, putting him 11th on Forbes’ 2010 list of richest Americans.
FIVE FUN FACTS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW:
>> While at Michigan, Larry built an inkjet printer out of Legos.
>> A kind of ubernerd, Page was the "first kid in his elementary school to turn in an assignment from a word processor."
>> Unsurprisingly, Page’s favorite magazine is Popular Science.
>> Page got married on Sir Richard Branson's personal Caribbean island, Necker Island, in 2007.
>> Page dubbed his research project at Stanford "BackRub,” which would later become Google.
NAME: Tim Cook
AGE: 50
BORN: November 1960, Alabama
RESIDES: Palo Alto, California
EDUCATION: Bachelor of Science, industrial engineering, Auburn University; M.B.A., industrial engineering, Duke
MARITAL STATUS: Single
TITLE: Chief operating officer and acting CEO, Apple
BIO: Worked for IBM and Compaq. Joined Apple in 1998 as senior vice president of operations; later promoted to run the Mac division. Led company during Jobs’ 2004 medical leave and again in 2009. Has his own health scare in 1996, when he was misdiagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
PERSONAL WEALTH: According to ValleyWag, Cook “has sold or accumulated $136 million in Apple shares.”
FIVE FUN FACTS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW:
>> “In meetings he's known for long, uncomfortable pauses,” according to a 2008 Fortune magazine profile, “when all you hear is the sound of his tearing the wrapper of the energy bars he constantly eats.”
>> Idolizes Lance Armstrong. Keeps hair neatly cropped like the cyclist. Loves cycling.
>> Cook is on Nike’s board of directors.
>> Gawker referred to Cook as "the most powerful gay man in Silicon Valley."
>> More from Fortune: “Cook's stamina is the stuff of legend at Apple. He often begins e-mailing the executives who work for him at 4:30 a.m.; worldwide conference calls can take place at any time of day. For years, Cook held a standing Sunday night staff meeting by telephone in order to prepare for yet more meetings on Monday morning.”
