Employees who leak memos do not belong at Apple, says Tim Cook in leaked company memo

Memos belonging to big tech companies such as Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Apple get leaked all the time. Just last month, a memo from Apple's Software VP Sebastien Marineau-Mes congratulating employees on the iCloud photo scanning for child sexual abuse material (CSAM) leaked online. Shortly after, there was a lot of backlash and the company eventually ended up delaying the initiative altogether.

Now, in a brilliant stroke of irony, a leaked memo from CEO Tim Cook has made its way online, in which the executive says that employees who leak memos do not belong at the company. The document in question was obtained by The Verge and reads as follows:

Dear Team,

It was great to connect with you at the global employee meeting on Friday. There was much to celebrate, from our remarkable new product line-up to our values driven work around climate change, racial equity, and privacy. It was a good opportunity to reflect on our many accomplishments and to have a discussion about what’s been on your mind.

I’m writing today because I’ve heard from so many of you were were incredibly frustrated to see the contents of the meeting leak to reporters. This comes after a product launch in which most of the details of our announcements were also leaked to the press.

I want you to know that I share your frustration. These opportunities to connect as a team are really important. But they only work if we can trust that the content will stay within Apple. I want to reassure you that we are doing everything in our power to identify those who leaked. As you know, we do not tolerate disclosures of confidential information, whether it’s product IP or the details of a confidential meeting. We know that the leakers constitute a small number of people. We also know that people who leak confidential information do not belong here.

As we look forward, I want to thank you for all you’ve done to make our products a reality and all you will do to get them into customers’ hands. Yesterday we released iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and watchOS 8, and Friday marks the moment when we share some of our incredible new products with the world. There’s nothing better than that. We’ll continue to measure our contributions in the lives we change, the connections we foster, and the work we do to leave the world a better place.

Thank you,

Tim

Interestingly, the latest leaked memo seems to be more concerned about leaking confidential product information prior to its respective launch rather than memos related to general company matters. It's unclear what investigative methods will be utilized to find out the identities of employees who have leaked internal documents, but given Cook's strong wording, it's clear that the Cupertino tech giant is enforcing a strong stance against perpetrators.