CNN on Tuesday named Apple CEO Tim Cook its 2014 CEO of the Year. “He’s had to convince skeptics that Apple can still innovate after the death of Steve Jobs,” CNN said. “He’s proven all the naysayers wrong.”
Cook took first place in the CNNMoney rankings, saying the CEO did an “amazing job” at Apple in 2014. In particular, it noted that AAPL stock is up 40 percent this year, and reached new all-time high levels.
The publication also noted the successful debuts of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus handsets, the well received debut of Apple Pay, and the upcoming Apple Watch, set to hit store shelves in 2015.
CEO candidates included (among others) BlackBerry’s John Chen, Meg Whitman of Hewlett-Packard, Sally Smith of Buffalo Wild Wings, Mary Barra of GM, Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, Marissa Mayer at Yahoo, and John Legere of T-Mobile.
Cook was also named “Person of the Year” by London’s Financial Times, who praised him for putting people over profits. Cook was also a runner-up for Time’s “Person of the Year Award,” which was awarded to “the Ebola Fighters.”
