The making of Tim Cook: How Apple's departing CEO went from 'the genius behind Steve Jobs' to a star in his own right

(Credit: David Paul Morris—Bloomberg/Getty Images)

When Fortune first put Tim Cook on its cover in 2008, senior writer Adam Lashinsky introduced him as the “under-the-radar guy” who might someday succeed Steve Jobs as Apple CEO—a “genius” and an “operations whiz,” but also a “blank slate” to outsiders.

Cook himself resisted the notion that he could lead Apple: “Come on, replace Steve? No. He’s irreplaceable.”