Apple CEO Tim Cook Named Board Chairman of Tsinghua University's School of Economics and Management - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Apple CEO Tim Cook Named Board Chairman of Tsinghua University's School of Economics and Management

Apple CEO Tim Cook is now the chairman of the advisory board of the Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management (SEM) in Beijing, and he recently hosted the 20th annual meeting of the committee.

The news of his appointment was shared in a recap of the 2019 meeting of the board, which is the 20th annual meeting since the committee was established.

timcooktsinghua
Cook has been a member of the Beijing-based university's advisory board since October of 2013. Tsinghua SEM is considered one of the top schools in China, and other advisory board members include General Motors CEO Mary Barra, Dell CEO Michael Dell, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, Foxconn CEO Terry Gou, Pepsi CEO Ramon Laguarta, Alibaba executive chairman Jack Ma, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and more.

Cook took over as chairman from Breyer Capital founder and CEO Jim Breyer, who led the board for the last three years.

In a speech at the meeting, Cook said that he plans to work with board members to "promote the development of the college" over the course of the next three years that he will hold the position.

Cook's promotion to chairman of the board at Tsinghua SEM comes as Apple struggles to navigate tensions between China and Hong Kong. Earlier this month, Apple pulled the HKMap Live app that protestors were using to communicate police movements after China suggested the app was being used to target specific police officers.

Last Friday, U.S. lawmakers condemned Apple's decision and called on the company to reinstate the app, but Apple has not yet responded.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Popular Stories

iOS 26

iOS 26.4 Adds Two New Features to CarPlay

Tuesday March 24, 2026 1:55 pm PDT by
iOS 26.4 was released today, and it includes a couple of new features for CarPlay: an Ambient Music widget and support for voice-based chatbot apps. To update your iPhone 11 or newer to iOS 26.4, open the Settings app and tap on General → Software Update. CarPlay will automatically offer the new features so long as the iPhone connected to your vehicle is running iOS 26.4 or later....
Apple Business hero

Apple Unveils 'Apple Business' All-in-One Platform

Tuesday March 24, 2026 8:53 am PDT by
Apple today announced Apple Business, a new all-in-one platform that unifies device management, productivity tools, and customer outreach features. The service is designed to be a consolidated replacement for several of Apple's existing business-focused offerings, including Apple Business Essentials, Apple Business Manager, and Apple Business Connect. It provides organizations with a single...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 3, AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4

Tuesday March 24, 2026 12:31 pm PDT by
Apple today released new firmware for the AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Pro 3, and the AirPods 4. The firmware has a version number of 8B39, up from 8B34 on the AirPods Pro 3, 8B28 on the AirPods Pro 2, and 8B21 on the AirPods 4. There is no word on what's included in the firmware, but Apple has a support document with limited notes. Most updates are limited to bug fixes and performance...

Top Rated Comments

PlainviewX Avatar
84 months ago
I'm sure this had nothing to do with him bowing down to China's every whim. Nothing at all...
Score: 87 Votes (Like | Disagree)
84 months ago
aaaaaaand this is definitely absolutely not going to look good in the slightest bit.

wow this is awful timing. this is going to tank CEO approval rating
Score: 50 Votes (Like | Disagree)
brinary001 Avatar
84 months ago
Ohhhhhhhhh okay now the Hong Kong stuff makes a lot more sense. Tim's gotta protect his interests 🙄
Score: 49 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JimmyBanks6 Avatar
84 months ago
Completely tone deaf.
Score: 46 Votes (Like | Disagree)
84 months ago
Taking Hong Kong protest app offline, removing Taiwan flags for some iOS users, requiring Apple TV+ producers not to criticize Chinese government in anyway... your works paid off Cook!
Score: 40 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Pepe4life Avatar
84 months ago
Tim’s hypocrisy never ceases to amaze me
Score: 37 Votes (Like | Disagree)