CNBC:

Recruiters for Apple had been after Cook, a vice president at Compaq, which was then the world’s biggest seller of PCs worldwide. He turned them down several times, he told Charlie Rose in 2014. But then he thought, “I’m going to go out and take the meeting. Steve created the whole industry that I’m in, I’d love to meet him.”

When the pair got together, “Well, I’m just thinking I’m going to meet him and all of a sudden he’s talking about his strategy and his vision,” said Cook.

And Cook was impressed.

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Cook had to be convinced to leave his gig at Compaq but it turned out well for all involved – except maybe Compaq.