Hassan Maishera
Tim Cook Says He Holds Cryptocurrencies
Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, said at the New York Times DealBook Online Summit yesterday that he has bought cryptocurrencies. He becomes the latest CEO of a leading tech firm to admit holding cryptocurrencies.
“I think it’s reasonable to own it as part of a diversified portfolio,” Mr. Cook told DealBook’s Andrew Ross Sorkin, quickly adding that he wasn’t giving investment advice. Tim Cook joins other leading CEOs such as Elon Musk and Michael Saylor in holding cryptocurrencies in his portfolio.
However, he admitted that he doesn’t. Apple will not be holding cryptocurrencies in its balance sheet at the moment. Furthermore, the tech giant will also not start accepting cryptocurrencies as payment options. Tim Cook’s entry into the crypto space is a positive one for the sector as he is worth around $1.5 billion.
Mr. Cook said Apple didn’t plan to buy any Bitcoin with its roughly $200 billion in cash. “I don’t think people buy Apple stock to get exposure to crypto. We don’t have any intention of making cryptocurrencies accepted payment methods soon. It’s not something we have immediate plans to do,” he added.
There are numerous CEOs and corporate entities who now hold cryptocurrencies as part of their investments. Elon Musk, Tesla and SpaceX’s CEO admitted earlier this year that he holds Bitcoin, Ether and Dogecoin in his personal portfolio. Furthermore, he revealed that SpaceX and Tesla still hold bitcoins in their balance sheet.
The most bullish Bitcoin CEO remains Michael Saylor. The MicroStrategy CEO has been a fan of cryptocurrencies for a while now and his company has invested nearly $4 billion in bitcoins. At the time of writing, MicroStrategy holds more than $7 billion in bitcoins.
