Heres whats most remarkable about Cooks appearance that day last winter: Steve Jobs wouldnt have bothered. The legendary company co-founder, who stepped down as Apples CEO last Aug. 24, six weeks before his death, rarely deigned to meet with investors. That was one of Tim Cooks tasks as chief operating officer. Its a subtle but significant change investors now have the CEOs ear for the first time in years and its one of many Cook has instituted at Apple as he approaches his one-year mark at the helm. Taken together his rapport with Wall Street as well as government officials, his decision to grant a dividend to shareholders, the creation of a program to match employee gifts to charity Tim Cooks stewardship of Apple is beginning to come into focus.
