Ed Elson

That's a good place to end.

Patrick McGee, award-winning journalist and author of Apple in China, the Capture of the World's Greatest Company.

Tripp Mikkel, tech reporter for The New York Times, author of After Steve, How Apple Became a Trillion Dollar Company and Lost Its Soul.

Tripp and Patrick, this was awesome.

Thanks so much for joining me.

Thanks, guys.

Thanks for having us.

So, the Tim Cook era is officially ending.

Before we wrap, a quick review of the Apple CEO's career and his legacy.

Tim Cook started at Apple in 1998 after spending five minutes with Steve Jobs, who convinced him to join the company.

He was eventually promoted to COO, and then in 2011, just weeks before Jobs passed, he was named CEO.

He will go down as one of the greatest executives ever.

When he took over, Apple was worth $350 billion.

Today, that number is almost $4 trillion.

In other words, Tim Cook technically created 11 times more value for shareholders than Steve Jobs himself.

He also sold more than three billion iPhones.

That is more than one iPhone for every three people on the planet.

In addition, he oversaw the rollout of some of Apple's most iconic products, including the Apple AirPods and also the Apple Watch.

But his tenure was not without troubles.

most of which came in the latter years.