Trump Backs Robertsdale-Raised Tim Cook to Lead Nvidia After His Retirement as Apple CEO

ROBERTSDALE, Ala. — President Donald Trump has publicly put forward Tim Cook, the former Apple chief executive who grew up in Robertsdale, as his choice to take over at chipmaker Nvidia. In a post on social media, Trump said Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang had resigned, praised Huang’s performance in the job and argued that Cook was the one person suited to succeed him, describing both executives as legendary figures in the technology world.

The suggestion puts a fresh spotlight on one of Baldwin County’s best-known natives, who stepped away from the top job at Apple earlier this year after nearly a decade and a half in charge.

Key Points

• President Trump, in a social media post, named Tim Cook as his pick to succeed Jensen Huang as Nvidia’s chief executive.
• The post said Huang had resigned and praised the job he had done.
• Cook led Apple as CEO from 2011 until April 2026 and then became executive chairman.
• Cook was born in Mobile, raised in Robertsdale and graduated from Robertsdale High School in 1978.
• He has funded scholarships for Robertsdale graduates and new instruments for the school’s band.

What the President Proposed

Trump’s post framed the Nvidia leadership question as already settled on one side, stating that Huang had resigned, and then offered Cook as the obvious replacement. The president did not lay out a formal process or indicate that he had spoken with Nvidia’s board about the idea. His remarks amount to a public endorsement rather than an appointment.

Under standard corporate governance, a publicly traded company’s chief executive is selected by its board of directors, not by elected officials. Any decision about who leads Nvidia would rest with the company’s board, which typically weighs internal and external candidates, often with help from executive search firms, before naming a new leader.

Cook’s Run at Apple

Cook became Apple’s chief executive in 2011, succeeding company co-founder Steve Jobs. He went on to lead the company for nearly 15 years, a period in which Apple expanded dramatically in size and market value. In April 2026, he handed off the chief executive post and became Apple’s executive chairman.

Cook’s tenure brought a string of major products and business lines. Apple introduced Apple Pay, the Apple Watch and AirPods during his time in charge and built a large services business around offerings such as Apple Music, iCloud and the App Store. In 2018, Apple became the first publicly traded American company to reach a market value of $1 trillion, and it later passed the $2 trillion and $3 trillion marks.

Before taking the top job, Cook built his reputation on operations. He joined Apple in 1998 after working at IBM and Compaq, and he was widely credited with reorganizing the company’s manufacturing and supply chain. He later served as Apple’s chief operating officer before being named CEO.

Born in Mobile, Raised in Robertsdale

Cook’s story begins on the Alabama Gulf Coast. He was born in Mobile and grew up across the bay in Robertsdale, a small city in central Baldwin County. At Robertsdale High School, he was a strong student and a member of the National Honor Society, and he graduated in 1978.

He stayed in Alabama for college, enrolling at Auburn University, where he completed a Bachelor of Science in industrial engineering in 1982. Six years later, in 1988, he finished a Master of Business Administration at Duke University, through its Fuqua School of Business. He finished among the top tenth of his graduating class and was recognized as a Fuqua Scholar.

Education Timeline

• 1978: Graduated from Robertsdale High School, where he was a National Honor Society member
• 1982: Earned a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Auburn University
• 1988: Completed an MBA at Duke’s Fuqua School, graduating as a Fuqua Scholar among the top tenth of the class

An Engineer’s Approach

Cook’s undergraduate field helps explain the strengths he became known for. Industrial engineering focuses on designing and improving complex systems, including manufacturing processes, logistics networks and the flow of materials, people and information. Those are the same kinds of challenges involved in running a global supply chain, the area where Cook first made his mark at Apple. Auburn’s engineering college has long been one of the state’s major producers of engineers, and Cook remains one of its most prominent graduates.

Giving Back to His Hometown

Even while running one of the world’s largest companies, Cook has kept ties to Baldwin County, particularly through support for education in Robertsdale.

He established a scholarship program for graduates of his alma mater that is set to run for 10 years. Each year, it awards scholarships worth $7,500 that continue over multiple years. Recipients are chosen based on academic achievement, leadership, grit, creativity and curiosity.

In 2022, Cook gave $100,000 to the Golden Bears band at Robertsdale High so the program could buy new instruments. School band programs often rely on fundraising and outside support to cover the high cost of instruments and equipment, and a gift of that size can outfit many students at once.

Beyond direct gifts, Cook has been an advocate for better access to modern technology and high-quality education for young people in Baldwin County and across Alabama.

About Nvidia

Nvidia, headquartered in Santa Clara, California, was founded in 1993, with Huang among its co-founders. The company first became known for graphics processing units, the specialized chips that power video games and visual computing. Over time, those chips proved well suited for the massive parallel calculations needed to train and run artificial intelligence systems, and Nvidia has become one of the central suppliers of hardware for the AI industry. That shift helped make it one of the most valuable companies in the world.

Huang, one of the company’s co-founders, has been its chief executive since its early days, so any change in the top job would be a major event for the technology sector and for investors.

How Cook’s Background Might Fit

Supporters of the idea could point to Cook’s long track record of managing a vast global supply chain, a skill that matters for any hardware company dependent on complex manufacturing partnerships. Apple and Nvidia both design advanced chips and rely on outside manufacturers to produce them, so there is some overlap in the operational challenges each company faces.

At the same time, the two businesses differ in important ways. Apple sells consumer devices and services directly to customers, while Nvidia’s largest business centers on selling chips and computing systems to other companies, including data center operators and cloud providers.

A Point of Pride in Baldwin County

Robertsdale sits in the agricultural heart of Baldwin County, Alabama’s largest county by land area, between the Mobile Bay communities to the west and the Florida line to the east. The city lies along State Route 59, the main north-south corridor through the county, roughly midway between Bay Minette and Foley, and it is crossed by U.S. 90. For a small city, seeing a hometown graduate rise to lead one of the world’s most influential companies is a notable distinction, and his scholarships and gifts keep that connection visible to current students.

The president’s comments add a new chapter to that story. Whether Cook ever takes on a new corporate role or chooses to remain in his current position, his connection to the Gulf Coast and his support for Robertsdale students continue to tie one of the technology industry’s most recognizable figures to his south Alabama roots.

What Comes Next

Any selection of a new chief executive would be made and announced by the company’s board of directors. Until then, the post stands as a high-profile endorsement from the White House of a Baldwin County native for one of the most prominent jobs in American business.