What is Tim Cook’s IQ?
Tim Cook’s IQ score was never published and no number circulates for it; the record shows a high school salutatorian, an Auburn engineering degree and a Duke MBA in the top 10 percent of its class.
No published IQ test result exists for Tim Cook, and no IQ figure for him turned up on the pages we checked. His record, an Auburn industrial engineering degree, a Duke MBA as a Fuqua Scholar and 12 years at IBM before Apple, supports an estimated IQ of 130–145, inferred from class standing and career, not from a test.
Tim Cook’s estimated IQ
- Salutatorian of Robertsdale High School in Alabama in 1978 (Wikipedia; Business Today, August 29, 2026): a class-rank fact, though neither the size nor the selectivity of the class is documented.
- A Bachelor of Science in industrial engineering from Auburn University in 1982: Auburn’s engineering department lists him as a 1982 alumnus, and Apple’s leadership page names the degree.
- An MBA from Duke’s Fuqua School of Business in 1988 as a Fuqua Scholar, which Duke Today (January 20, 2018) describes as an honor given only to students who graduate in the top 10 percent of their class.
- Twelve years at IBM, ending as Director of North American Fulfillment, then chief operating officer of the reseller division at Intelligent Electronics and vice president for corporate materials at Compaq, all before he joined Apple in March 1998, per Apple’s 2011 proxy statement.
- A management record at Apple: chief operating officer by October 2005, responsible for day-to-day operations in 2009, CEO from August 24, 2011 until September 1, 2026. It shows trust and execution but no score, so it does not move the range.
No IQ, SAT, GMAT or GRE score has been published for Tim Cook, so this range is inferred from class standing and career, not from a test. Salutatorian and Fuqua Scholar are class-rank facts from two different cohorts, class rank tracks IQ only loosely, and his 15 years as CEO rest on operations and management judgment, which no test scores; the record cannot separate 130 from 145.
- Born
- November 1, 1960, Mobile, Alabama (Wikipedia and Wikidata); grew up in Robertsdale, Alabama
- Education
- Robertsdale High School (salutatorian, 1978); B.S., industrial engineering, Auburn University (1982); MBA, Duke University Fuqua School of Business (1988)
- Class standing
- Salutatorian, 1978; Fuqua Scholar, 1988 (Duke Today: the top 10 percent of the class)
- Before Apple
- 12 years at IBM, ending as Director of North American Fulfillment; chief operating officer of Intelligent Electronics’ reseller division; vice president, corporate materials, Compaq (1997)
- At Apple
- Joined March 1998 as senior vice president, worldwide operations; chief operating officer by October 2005; CEO from August 24, 2011 until the September 1, 2026 handover
- Role as of October 2026
- Executive Chair of Apple’s board; John Ternus became CEO on September 1, 2026
- Honors
- Alabama Academy of Honor (2014), Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame (2009) and an Auburn Alumni Association Lifetime Achievement Award (2014), per the Academy’s biography
- Circulating IQ figure
- None found; no IQ, SAT, GMAT or GRE score has been published
What an IQ of 130–145 actually means
Set the claim aside for a moment. If someone genuinely scored in this range, here is what that would represent.
| Score range | Classification | Share of people | What it indicates |
|---|---|---|---|
| 85 – 114 | Average | ~68% | The range most people fall into. |
| 115 – 129 | Above average | ~13.6% | Roughly one person in seven. |
| 130 – 144 | Gifted | ~2% | The threshold most high-IQ societies use. |
| Above 144 | Highly gifted | ~0.1% | Figures above this range are extrapolated from the curve rather than measured. |
Percentages are approximate and describe a normal distribution. The same number means different things on tests with different standard deviations.
Thirty questions gives you a measured position on this exact scale — your score, your percentile and the ability breakdown behind it.
Find out in 30 minutes →Who Tim Cook is
Timothy Donald Cook was born on November 1, 1960, in Mobile, Alabama, according to Wikipedia and Wikidata, and grew up in Robertsdale, Alabama, where he graduated as salutatorian of Robertsdale High School in 1978. He earned a Bachelor of Science in industrial engineering at Auburn University in 1982; Auburn’s engineering department lists him as a 1982 alumnus. He then took an MBA at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business in 1988 and was named a Fuqua Scholar, which Duke Today describes as an honor given only to students who graduate in the top 10 percent of their class. For how class standing relates to ability, see whether IQ predicts school success.
His career before Apple was in computer-industry operations. Apple’s 2011 proxy statement says he spent 12 years at International Business Machines, most recently as Director of North American Fulfillment, then served as chief operating officer of the Reseller Division at Intelligent Electronics and as vice president, corporate materials at Compaq Computer Corporation. Business Today dates the Compaq job to 1997 and says he stayed about six months. He joined Apple in March 1998 as senior vice president, worldwide operations; the proxy statement lists him as senior vice president for worldwide operations, sales, service and support from 2000 to 2002 and executive vice president, worldwide sales and operations from 2002 to 2005, with Macintosh hardware engineering added to his duties in 2004. An exhibit Apple filed with the SEC on October 14, 2005, headed “Tim Cook Named COO of Apple,” records his promotion to chief operating officer.
When Steve Jobs took a leave of absence in 2009, Cook assumed responsibility for Apple’s day-to-day operations for that period, the proxy statement says, and Wikipedia describes him as acting CEO. On August 24, 2011, Apple announced that Jobs had resigned as CEO and that the board had named Cook, previously chief operating officer, the new CEO and a member of the board, effective immediately. Apple’s leadership page says he served as CEO from 2011 to 2026 and credits that tenure with product introductions including Apple Watch, AirPods and Apple Vision Pro. Outside Apple, Duke Today reported in January 2018 that he had been a Duke trustee since 2015 and would deliver Duke’s commencement address on Sunday, May 13, 2018; the Alabama Academy of Honor’s biography lists him as an inductee in 2014 and records the 2009 Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame and a 2014 Auburn Alumni Association Lifetime Achievement Award.
As of October 2026, Cook is no longer CEO. Apple announced on April 20, 2026 that he would become executive chairman of its board and that John Ternus, senior vice president of Hardware Engineering, would become CEO, both effective September 1, 2026; the board’s action appears in a Form 8-K Apple filed for April 17, 2026, and Al Jazeera reported on September 1 that Ternus took the helm that day. Apple’s leadership page, checked on October 5, 2026, lists Cook as Executive Chair. Tim Cook’s estimated IQ here, 130–145, is inferred from the record above and from nothing measured. Whether 130 or 145 amounts to genius depends on what genius-level means, and whether a 130 IQ is genius is a question of its own: on a scale with a standard deviation of 15, 130 is about one person in 44 and 145 about one in 740.
By Elora Mercer, Celebrity Research WriterFigures checked by Leon Falkner, Data & Research AnalystReviewed by Aarav Vardhan, Editor-in-Chief · Last reviewed August 2026
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Tim Cook: the documented record
The estimate above rests on this record. Every entry here is a matter of public fact, which is more than can be said for the number itself.
- 1960Born on November 1 in Mobile, Alabama (Wikipedia and Wikidata); grows up in Robertsdale.
- 1978Graduates as salutatorian of Robertsdale High School.
- 1982Earns a B.S. in industrial engineering at Auburn University; his 12 years at IBM follow (Wikidata gives 1982 as the start).
- 1988Earns a Duke MBA at the Fuqua School of Business and is named a Fuqua Scholar, a top-10-percent honor.
- 1997Becomes vice president for corporate materials at Compaq, after serving as chief operating officer of Intelligent Electronics’ reseller division.
- 1998Joins Apple in March as senior vice president, worldwide operations.
- 2002–2005Executive vice president, worldwide sales and operations (2002); Macintosh hardware engineering added in 2004; named chief operating officer in an Apple exhibit filed with the SEC on October 14, 2005.
- 2009Assumes responsibility for Apple’s day-to-day operations during Steve Jobs’s leave of absence.
- 2011Named CEO on August 24, the day Jobs resigns; joins the board.
- 2026Apple announces on April 20 that Cook will become executive chairman and John Ternus CEO; the change takes effect on September 1.
Why no figure circulates
Following a claim back to its first appearance is the part almost nobody does — and it is what most people are actually asking.
No Tim Cook IQ figure turned up on any page we opened, so there is no number to trace. Searches for “tim cook iq”, “tim cook iq score”, “what is tim cook’s iq” and “is tim cook a genius” returned biographies and news coverage, and searches restricted to BrainManager and Riot IQ, two sites that publish celebrity IQ pages, returned none for him. BrainManager’s list of 23 highest-IQ celebrities, published April 30, 2025, does not name him, and Riot IQ’s page on his predecessor Steve Jobs says plainly that no real score exists for Jobs. For how such numbers usually take hold, see where celebrity IQ numbers come from.
A missing number is itself informative. Many of the IQ figures on this site belong to founders, and Cook’s documented record is operational. Apple’s 2011 proxy statement credits him with responsibility for the company’s day-to-day operations during 2009, and Wikipedia’s account of his first years at Apple says he closed factories and warehouses, replaced them with contract manufacturers and cut inventory from months to days. Results like those are easy to document and impossible to convert into an IQ. For what research says about executives and measured intelligence, see leader IQ: is there a sweet spot near 120.
What the record does contain are two class-rank facts, the nearest thing to a measurement. Cook was salutatorian of Robertsdale High School in 1978, and Duke Today says the Fuqua Scholar honor he received with his 1988 MBA goes only to students who graduate in the top 10 percent of their class. The top 10 percent of the whole population begins near an IQ of 119 on a scale with a standard deviation of 15, but an MBA class has already been selected, so the honor points higher by an amount no source gives. That is why the middle of this site’s range sits near an IQ around 135 and the range is fifteen points wide.
Placed among the business profiles here, Cook’s 130–145 sits below Sundar Pichai’s 135–150, built by the same achievement-and-academic-record method, and overlaps Mark Zuckerberg’s 135–145. It is well below the 150–160 this site gives Jobs, whose range reads a founder’s record, and below Steve Wozniak’s 150–165. The gap reflects the evidence, not the importance of his work: Cook’s record offers class rank and a corporate career, not a test score or a founding story, so no one should read his range as a verdict that he is less capable than those founders.
How we read a number →Searched “tim cook iq”, “tim cook iq score”, “what is tim cook’s iq”, “Tim Cook’s IQ” and “is tim cook a genius”, plus searches restricted to BrainManager, Riot IQ, iSchoolConnect, IQ Test Experts and celebrity-iq.com: biographies and news, no figure and no test. Pages read for this profile (Apple’s leadership page, Wikipedia, Wikidata, Duke, Auburn, Apple’s SEC filings, the Alabama Academy of Honor, Business Today, Fortune’s November 21, 2023 hiring story) state degrees, honors and dates; none states a score.
BrainManager’s list does not name Cook (it opens with Lisa Kudrow, Sylvester Stallone and Ashton Kutcher). Riot IQ’s Jobs page says Jobs never took a publicly documented IQ test, so no real score exists for him; no Riot IQ or BrainManager page on Cook turned up.
Cook becomes executive chairman and Ternus CEO effective September 1, 2026; the 8-K records the board’s April 17 appointment of Ternus. The leadership page, read October 5, 2026, titles him Executive Chair, says he was CEO from 2011 to 2026 and joined Apple in 1998, and lists an MBA from Duke (Fuqua Scholar) and a B.S. in industrial engineering from Auburn.
The board named Cook, previously chief operating officer, the new CEO, and he joined the board, effective immediately; Jobs’s letter recommends naming him CEO.
Proxy: joined March 1998; SVP worldwide operations 1998–2000; SVP worldwide operations, sales, service and support 2000–2002; EVP worldwide sales and operations 2002–2005; Macintosh hardware engineering added in 2004; before Apple, Compaq vice president for corporate materials, Intelligent Electronics reseller-division COO and 12 years at IBM (Director of North American Fulfillment); a 2009 award for taking over day-to-day operations during Jobs’s leave. The 2005 exhibit repeats the career, names the COO promotion, and gives the Duke MBA (Fuqua Scholar) and Auburn degree.
MBA 1988; Fuqua Scholar, “an honor given only to students who graduate in the top 10 percent of their class”; Duke trustee since 2015; commencement address Sunday, May 13, 2018.
Describes him as a 1982 Auburn University BIE alumnus with a B.S. in industrial engineering and an MBA from Duke where he was a Fuqua Scholar.
Academy: B.S. 1982, MBA 1988 and Fuqua Scholar, 12 years at IBM, Compaq, Apple roles to CEO 2011, and honors (inducted 2014; Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame 2009; Auburn Alumni Association Lifetime Achievement Award 2014). Business Today: salutatorian of Robertsdale High School in 1978, Compaq in 1997 for about six months, Intelligent Electronics reseller division.
Wikidata: American business executive; born November 1, 1960, in Mobile; CEO from August 24, 2011 to August 31, 2026; no date of death. Wikipedia: Robertsdale upbringing and 1978 salutatorian, Auburn 1982, Duke 1988, Intelligent Electronics and Compaq, acting CEO in 2009, closing factories and warehouses and cutting inventory from months to days.
Al Jazeera: Ternus took the helm on Tuesday, September 1, 2026, and Cook moved to executive chairman as announced in April. Fortune: Cook lists curiosity and collaboration, and no degree requirement, as what Apple hires for; no IQ mention.
The sources behind our estimate
The figures that circulate for Tim Cook, what we were able to confirm, and where the two diverge.
No page we checked states an IQ figure for Tim Cook. Searches for “tim cook iq”, “tim cook iq score”, “what is tim cook’s iq”, “Tim Cook’s IQ” and “is tim cook a genius” returned his biographies and news coverage, not a number. What exists for him is a documented record, not a score.
No published Tim Cook IQ test result exists, and no SAT, GMAT or GRE score is public either. Searches restricted to BrainManager, Riot IQ, iSchoolConnect, IQ Test Experts and celebrity-iq.com returned no Cook page; BrainManager’s list of 23 highest-IQ celebrities (published April 30, 2025) does not name him, and Riot IQ’s Steve Jobs page says Jobs never took a publicly documented IQ test. Apple’s leadership page, Wikipedia, Wikidata, Duke’s and Auburn’s pages and Apple’s SEC filings give degrees, honors and dates, and none states a test score.
With no circulating figure there is nothing to compare against, so the only spread here is this site’s own range, 130–145. Fifteen points is about as tight as class standing and a career record can honestly go; only a test could narrow it.
Want a number that does hold up? Every figure on this page is somebody’s claim. Take the 30-question test and get a percentile you can check rather than a figure you have to trust.
Tim Cook — frequently asked
What is Tim Cook’s IQ?
Tim Cook’s IQ is unknown: no IQ test result has been published for him, and no figure for his IQ level circulates on the pages we checked. This site’s estimated IQ for Tim Cook, 130–145, is inferred from his Auburn engineering degree, his Duke MBA as a Fuqua Scholar (top 10 percent of the class) and his career at IBM and Apple, not from any score.
Did Tim Cook take an IQ test?
No Tim Cook IQ test result has been published, and none of the sources checked for this page says he took one, including Apple’s biography of him, his Duke and Auburn pages and Apple’s SEC filings. No SAT, GMAT or GRE score is public either, so no number can be checked against a measurement.
Is Tim Cook a genius?
The record shows a strong, documented ladder: salutatorian of his high school class in 1978, an Auburn industrial engineering degree in 1982, a Duke MBA in the top 10 percent of its class in 1988, then Apple from 1998, including 15 years as CEO (2011–2026). Whether that is genius depends on the definition; no test measures it, and this site’s estimated IQ range is 130–145.
What is Tim Cook’s education and qualification?
Tim Cook was salutatorian of Robertsdale High School, Alabama, in 1978, earned a Bachelor of Science in industrial engineering from Auburn University in 1982, and completed an MBA at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business in 1988 as a Fuqua Scholar. Apple’s biography page lists those two degrees; no test score is attached to any of them.
How does Tim Cook’s estimated IQ compare with Steve Jobs’s and Sundar Pichai’s?
This site’s estimate for Cook, 130–145, sits below Sundar Pichai’s 135–150, Steve Jobs’s 150–160, Steve Wozniak’s 150–165, Jeff Bezos’s 145–155 and Bill Gates’s 150–160. Only Gates’s rests on a test score, an SAT-derived estimate. Cook’s range is lower because his record offers class rank and a corporate career, not a founding story.
Is Tim Cook still the CEO of Apple?
No. As of October 2026, John Ternus is Apple’s CEO: Apple announced on April 20, 2026 that Ternus would take over on September 1, 2026, and that Tim Cook, CEO since August 24, 2011, would become executive chairman of the board. Apple’s leadership page lists Cook as Executive Chair.
What is a Fuqua Scholar, and was Tim Cook one?
Yes. Duke Today describes the Fuqua Scholar title, which Cook received with his 1988 MBA from Duke’s Fuqua School of Business, as an honor given only to students who graduate in the top 10 percent of their class. It is a class-rank honor, not an IQ score, and it is one of the two rank facts behind this site’s estimate.
How does my IQ compare with Tim Cook?
You can find out in about fifteen minutes. The IQ Metrics assessment is 30 questions, scored on the same 100-mean scale used throughout this page, so your result and the estimate above are at least expressed in the same units — one measured, one inferred. Once you have a number, the leaderboard shows where it would sit, and how we score and norm it explains the benchmarking.
Where does this estimate come from?
From the documented record rather than a test — the method is named above and set out in full under how we read a number. Compare it against the other business & tech profiles, starting with Steve Jobs.
- Take the 30-question IQ test — get a measured score and percentile of your own
- Average IQ by country — how the scale behaves across populations
- How IQ Metrics scores its assessment — the method behind our own number
- More on how IQ testing works — reliability, error and what a score can and cannot say
- More business & tech profiles — same field, same method
More business & tech
Photograph by Anderseidesvik, CC BY-SA 4.0. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by John Sears, CC BY-SA 4.0. Background removed for the portrait above. · Photograph by John Phillips, CC BY 2.0. Background removed for the portrait above.
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