Facebook Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has long considered Apple Inc. and its leader, Tim Cook, have too much influence on the social media giant’s business. In 2018, anger ignited them.
Facebook has been embroiled in controversy over its data collection practices. Mr Cook crowded into a national television interview, saying his own company would never have been in such a deadlock. Mr Zuckerberg rejected Mr Cook’s comments as “extremely clear” and “not at all in line with the truth”.
In private, Mr. Zuckerberg was even tougher. “We have to cause pain,” he told his team, because he treated the company so badly, according to people familiar with the exchange.
It wasn’t the first time – or the last – that Mr. Cook’s comments and actions would let Mr. Zuckerberg boil over and sometimes plot to return to Apple. The escalation of discontent erupted late last month in a rare public attempt between the two tech giants that revealed hot animosity between their leaders, who exchanged privacy jabs, app tracking tools, and finally their visions of the future of the internet.
Apple has positioned itself as a protector of digital privacy, advocating greater good, while often criticizing Facebook’s business model – without naming the company. All this is rushing Facebook, which sees Apple as overtaking in a way that threatens the existence of Facebook, and hypocritically, including by doing extensive business is China, where privacy is reduced. An attempt in 2017 to resolve tensions through a face-to-face meeting between the two CEOs led to a tense confrontation.