Net harmfulFormula-derived score
The largest negative contribution to the formula-derived score is “Apple expands iPhone assembly in India” (2022). The largest positive offset is “The US Department of Justice sues Apple for monopolising smartphones” (2024).
Biggest harms and offsets: signed contributions to the formula-derived score, ranked by size.
via Energy Security → Inability to keep home adequately warm
26 September 2022 · Direct contribution
via Energy Security → Inability to keep home adequately warm
21 December 2022 · Direct contribution
via AI-Regulation Intensity → Having a say in government
2 February 2024 · Direct contribution
1 more ranked below in Timeline and Related.
via Digital-Platform Power Concentration → Having a say in government
21 March 2024 · Direct contribution
via Digital-Platform Power Concentration → Having a say in government
23 April 2025 · Direct contribution
via Democratic Resilience → Having a say in government
18 June 2022 · Direct contribution
4 more ranked below in Timeline and Related.
The Cook years are not a privacy saint’s life and not a single China cartoon. The heaviest documented costs are the 2016 FBI fight’s mixed civic file, Epic and DOJ antitrust, the 23 April 2025 DMA fine, Ireland state-aid, GCBD iCloud keys, Hong Kong App Store politics, Foxconn labour that Apple codes did not abolish, and a 2026 Apple Intelligence advertising settlement. Those rest on dockets, Commission texts, 10-Ks, and labour reporting. The live composite is formula output from those paths plus M-series, privacy labels, Lockdown Mode, and supplier energy claims; this paragraph is not the score. He is still CEO on 26 August 2026. Ternus is not this Person.
The offsets are dated. A 2011 succession, 2014 essay, M1, and 2021 labels are completed instruments. TSMC, Foxconn, and the board share several files. He does not sit as a Commission hearing officer and he does not write a Chinese labour statute. Confidence is high on 10-Ks and dockets, and medium where assemblers, App Review, and later DMA remedies sit between a keynote and a welfare indicator.
Sorted by the size of this person’s signed contribution. The observed state is the indicator’s own reading, not this person’s doing.
+59 pts to the score
Observed
11% of primary-school-age children · 11 above the normal line (2023)
Worse than normalAbove normal = worse · 2023–2025 · 3 facts, full confidence · formula deviation factor −3
−30 pts to the score
Observed
29.8% of population aged 16-65 years · 8.13 below the normal line (2023)
Worse than normalTwo readings: 30.2% of population aged 16-65 years (2021) and 29.8% of population aged 16-65 years (2023).
Above normal = better · 2022–2026 · 6 facts, full confidence · formula deviation factor −3
−21 pts to the score
Observed
91.6% of population · 8.4 below the normal line (2023)
Worse than normal4 readings, 2020–2023: rose from 90.4% of population to 91.6% of population.
Above normal = better · 2020–2022 · 3 facts, full confidence · formula deviation factor −3
−20 pts to the score
Observed
7.97% of population aged 16 years or over · 5.2 above the normal line (2025)
Worse than normal8 readings, 2018–2025: rose from 7.77% of population aged 16 years or over to 7.97% of population aged 16 years or over.
Above normal = worse · 2022 · 2 facts, full confidence · formula deviation factor −3
+6 pts to the score
Observed
30% of electricity generation · 11 above the normal line (2023)
Better than normal6 readings, 2000–2023: rose from 18.9% of electricity generation to 30% of electricity generation.
Above normal = better · 2018–2020 · 2 facts, full confidence · formula deviation factor 3
−5 pts to the score
Observed
5.8 annual % change in CPI · 2.3 above the normal line (Dec 2024)
Better than normal5 readings, 2020–2024: rose from 3.3 annual % change in CPI to 5.8 annual % change in CPI.
Moving normal line · 2026 · 1 fact, full confidence · formula deviation factor 2.3
Claims against the record, the type of responsibility, and what is disputed.
Responsibility
responsibility level 0.55
responsibility level 0.55
responsibility level 0.55
responsibility level 0.55
What could change this assessment
Person → Fact → Driver → Indicator. Select a path to inspect its factors; the full network opens on demand.
Contribution size 0.45 · Responsibility 0.55 · Fact impact 0.3 · Driver weight 1 · Driver → indicator 0.6 · Indicator importance 0.8 · Deviation factor −3 · Confidence 1
Contribution size 0.4 · Responsibility 0.55 · Fact impact −0.3 · Driver weight 1 · Driver → indicator 0.6 · Indicator importance 0.8 · Deviation factor −3 · Confidence 1
Contribution size 0.7 · Responsibility 0.55 · Fact impact 0.45 · Driver weight 0.71 · Driver → indicator −0.55 · Indicator importance 0.8 · Deviation factor −3 · Confidence 1
The most relevant dated facts, newest first.
23 April 2025 · Antitrust Pressure in Digital Markets
The Commission fines Apple €500 million for DMA App Store steering non-compliance21 March 2024 · Antitrust Pressure in Digital Markets
The US Department of Justice sues Apple for monopolising smartphones6 September 2023 · Antitrust Pressure in Digital Markets
The Commission designates Apple a DMA gatekeeper21 December 2022 · Energy Security
Apple cuts iPhone production outlook after China COVID disruptions26 September 2022 · Industrial-Policy Activism
Apple expands iPhone assembly in India18 June 2022 · Labour-Market Tightness
US Apple retail workers win a first union vote in TowsonHow the record is sourced and how the score is derived.
32 of 32 linked facts verified, drawing on 15 distinct sources (2011–2026).
Sources include Apple, European Commission, United States Department of Justice, United States National Labor Relations Board, United States District Court, United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
Sources (showing 8 of 15)
The score is formula-derived (Factrail formula v1, version 1.0.0), not an editorial verdict. Read the methodology.
By the Factrail desk · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed · Sources: 15
An excerpt; the full analysis opens on request.
Tim Cook has been Apple CEO since 24 August 2011. He can ship silicon, set commission rates, and sign climate-and-privacy pages. He cannot write a DOJ complaint or a Foxconn hour.
The 2016 FBI iPhone order is a completed all-writs fight with mixed civic paths. Epic v. Apple is a completed 2020 docket on App Store tolls. The 2024 DOJ complaint is a completed monopolisation filing. The 2016 Ireland state-aid decision and later ECJ cluster is a completed tax-base file. GCBD iCloud keys 2018 are a completed encryption-key transfer to a PRC partner. Hong Kong App Store removals 2020 are a completed content concession. Foxconn labour is a completed assembler-rights cluster Apple codes did not abolish. DMA designation 2023 is a completed gatekeeper listing. The 23 April 2025 DMA fine is a completed €500 million non-compliance decision on App Store steering. The 2019 China forecast cut later produced a 2024 shareholder settlement; a settlement is not a completed fraud conviction of Cook as a natural person. The May 2026 Apple Intelligence settlement is a completed advertising-class instrument without an admission of liability.
The 2011 CEO appointment is a completed succession. The 2014 Bloomberg essay is a completed civic-speech instrument. Privacy nutrition labels 2020–21 are a completed App Store disclosure. Lockdown Mode 2022 is a completed high-risk-user integrity instrument. Supplier clean energy is a completed procurement-climate cluster. 2018 US investment pledge is a completed domestic-capex instrument, not a unique unemployment coefficient. 2020 racial-equity pledges are a completed corporate instrument, not a unique Gini. The 20 April 2026 succession names Ternus CEO from 1 September 2026 and Cook executive chairman; it is a completed board instrument, not a wipe of 2011–2024 dockets.
Official carriers include Apple 10-Ks and newsroom, SEC, DOJ, EUR-Lex, and Reuters.
The score does not say that every iPhone job rebates a Foxconn shift. It does not say that a privacy keynote is a DMA certificate. It does not convert a 10-K climate page into a unique ppm. Related people are Musk, Zuckerberg, Pichai, Huang, Nadella, Bezos, Biden, Trump, von der Leyen, Vestager, Merkel, Macron.
A CEO is powerful enough to own those 10-Ks and those dockets. He is not powerful enough to be the unique author of Foxconn or of a Commission hearing officer. Keep 2011 and 2026 on separate dates. Keep GCBD keys and the FBI letter on separate sovereignties. Keep a €500 million DMA fine and a US complaint on separate capitals. If those distinctions feel pedantic, they are the alternative to a keynote and the alternative to a cartoon.
Official carriers used here include Apple Newsroom and 10-Ks, SEC, DOJ, EUR-Lex DMA texts, NLRB, and Reuters. A privacy nutrition label is not a completed DMA certificate. A 10-K climate page is not a unique ppm. A 2026 Apple Intelligence settlement is not a completed finding that Siri already shipped as advertised. Ternus’s September office is a different Person row when it exists; this catalog is Cook.
The 2011 succession and the 2026 succession are two dates. The 2016 Ireland decision and the 2025 DMA fine are two Brussels instruments. China assembly, GCBD keys, and Hong Kong App Store removals are three localisation files, not one adjective. Foxconn labour is a shop-floor file Apple codes did not abolish. Readers who want only M1 will miss Ireland. Readers who want only China will miss ATT. Keep those dates separate.
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