Cook told the Wall Street Journal that he set his mind as a child to attending Auburn University, where he "studied industrial engineering, watched football and learned to ask lots of questions."

The CEO of the world’s most valuable company led two of the biggest product launches of his tenure this year—and believes they will be as life-changing for the rest of us as they are for him.

The CEO met with China’s Minister of Industry and Information Technology as well as the heads of some local companies, including China Mobile and Weibo.