@mubeitech: At 37, Tim Cook got a $500k signing bonus and a $400k salary. He quit a secure job at Compaq to jump into a nearly bankrupt company. Friends told him not to go, but a single phone call from Steve Jobs sealed the deal. It was 1998. All of Silicon Valley was chasing enterprise services…

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In 1998 Tim Cook left a secure Compaq role for a $500k signing bonus and $400k salary at then-struggling Apple after a single call from Steve Jobs.

At 37, Tim Cook received a $500,000 signing bonus and a $400,000 annual salary. He walked away from a stable position at Compaq to join a company on the brink of bankruptcy. Friends urged him not to take the leap, yet one phone call from Steve Jobs was all it took. It was 1998. The whole of Silicon Valley was diving into enterprise services, and Wall Street agreed: selling to everyday consumers would never turn a profit.
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At 37, Tim Cook pocketed a $500,000 signing bonus—plus a $400,000 annual salary. He walked away from a secure job at Compaq to jump into a company on the brink of bankruptcy. Friends begged him not to go. Yet one phone call from Steve Jobs was all it took. It was 1998. All of Silicon Valley was chasing enterprise contracts; Wall Street agreed you couldn’t make real money selling to ordinary consumers.

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