Apple CEO Tim Cook will be the headline speaker at this year’s hybrid version of the Silicon Slopes Summit, to be held virtually and in person Oct. 13-14 in Salt Lake City.
Convention organizers said Cook will join Utah Sen. Mike Lee on stage for “a wide-ranging conversation” beginning Oct. 13 at 2 p.m. at the Salt Palace Convention Center as part of the yearly summit for companies and workers in Utah’s technology sector.
“Tim is one of the great technology leaders of this generation, and we are thrilled to have his insights shared from our stage,” Clint Betts, executive director of Silicon Slopes, said in a statement. “We look forward to hearing his insights on the evolution and trends in tech, especially at a time when Utah’s tech scene is growing at lightning speed.”
The two-day summit is among the world’s largest annual gatherings of the tech industry, drawing as many as 20,000 participants. Last year’s convention, held in January, featured Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Information about tickets and the topics of this year’s other convention talks can be found at SlopesSummit.com.
Lee said Thursday in a statement he had “known and worked with my friend Tim Cook for years,” and he called Apple “a hallmark of American growth and innovation.”
“I was thrilled to invite him to this year’s Silicon Slopes Summit,” the Utah Republican said, “and I look forward to welcoming Mr. Cook and introducing him to the Utahns building the future of technology.”
The 60-year-old Cook has headed Apple since 2011 and has overseen a doubling of the tech giant’s revenues and major advances in its offerings, including the pending release of its iPhone 13 line of products.
He was also the first head of a Fortune 500 company to come out publicly as gay, in 2014. Four years later, Cook become involved with a Utah nonprofit called Encircle, which offers resources and peer counseling for LGBTQ youths and their families.
Officials with Apple said Encircle will host a fundraising dinner Oct. 13 with Cook in attendance, along with Qualtrics founder and Utah Jazz owners Ryan and Ashley Smith, and Imagine Dragons’ singer Dan Reynolds and his wife, recording artist Aja Volkman.
More information is available at EncircleTogether.org.