Tim Cook hits billionaire status with Apple nearing $2 trillion

Nine years after Steve Jobs stepped down and thrust Tim Cook to the top of Apple, the company is more valuable than ever — and so is Cook.

Apple’s share price rose almost 5% last week, leaving the company Jobs co-founded 44 years ago in his parents’ California home on the cusp of stock-market milestone: a market value of nearly $2 trillion.

It was valued at about $350 billion when Jobs died. Cook, meantime, has joined one of the most elite clubs for CEOs who didn’t actually found the companies they run: his net worth has eclipsed $1 billion, according to calculations by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.