Cue joined Apple in 1989, and was instrumental in creating the Apple online store in 1998, the iTunes Store in 2003 and the App Store in 2008. In his early years at Apple, he was a manager of software engineering and customer support teams. In 1999, he convinced Apple to work with Akamai Technologies Inc. on new streaming functions for its QuickTime video software. He also played a key role in developing Apple's iLifesuite of applications, namely iBooks, the iAd advertising service, and Apple's App Store of more than 700,000 applications. Cue is widely known at Apple for turning around its failed products, such as the MobileMe data syncing service as well as iCloud in 2011, which now has more than a quarter billion users. Likewise, Cue is famous for advising Jobs to consider creating a smaller version of the iPad based on his own experience with the product. While Jobs was originally against the idea, Tim Cook eventually agreed with the concept upon becoming CEO after Jobs' death.
Today (2011–present)
As senior vice president of Internet Software and Services, Cue has addressed Apple's mobile maps, iCloud, and iMessage outages. Additionally, Cue took command of Apple's voice-activated assistant Siri. However, this service was delegated to Craig Federighi, Apple's senior vice president of software engineering and subsequently to John Gianandrea Apple's new senior vice president of AI/ML. Cue's responsibilities as leader of iTunes has included attending to the rise of streaming services, supported by Apple's competition with Spotify and recent acquisition of Shazam. In response to the rise of video streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon, and HBO, Cue has led Apple's new effort to create its own original content. In 2017, it was announced that Apple had set aside nearly $1 billion to produce original video content to compete with HBO, Amazon, and Netflix. With a base salary of $1,000,000, $1,790,000 in bonuses and incentives, and $20,000,083 in stock, Cue earned over $22.8 million in total compensation during the 2016 fiscal year for his leadership and performance.
Personal life
The son of a Cuban mother and a Spanish father, Cue resides with his wife Paula in Los Altos, California, and tries hard to maintain a low profile. Cue is an avid fan of rock music, with Bruce Springsteen as one of his favorite artists. Cue was recognized by cancer research center City of Hope with their 2014 Spirit of Life Award, honoring an individual whose work has fundamentally impacted the music, film and entertainment industry.
Cue earned bachelor's degrees in computer science and economics at Duke University. Cue is an avid Duke basketball fan, and both of his sons Adam and Spencer studied Computer Science at Duke University as well. Cue's recent involvement with Duke has included encouraging undergraduate women to study computer science and electrical engineering as part of the Duke Technology Scholar program launched in 2016. Additionally, Cue joined Duke Men's Basketball Coach Mike Krzysweski in founding PowerForward, a mobile video network which targets the B2B market offering subscriptions to video content and case studies aimed to help corporations foster leadership and build teams.
Cue is also a longtime Golden State Warriors fan. At Game 1 of the 2017 NBA Finals, Cue was involved in a controversy where he was seen gesturing to Rihanna to sit down as she was bowing to the opposing Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James on the courtside. After the incident, Cue publicly denied feuding with Rihanna in a tweet the morning after: "Nothing but love for Rihanna As usual I was excited about our lead and actually talking to Marissa, 8 seats to my right."
