In a scathing statement, Cook openly slammed the book written by former Wall Street Journal technology reporter Yukari Iwatani Kane called Haunted Empire: Apple After Steve Jobs:
"This nonsense belongs with some of the other books I've read about Apple. It fails to capture Apple, Steve, or anyone else in the company. Apple has over 85,000 employees that come to work each day to do their best work, to create the world's best products, to put their mark in the universe and leave it better than they found it. This has been the heart of Apple from day one and will remain at the heart for decades to come. I am very confident about our future."
Kane has since expressed her surprise at Cook's reaction to her thesis, suggesting that it must have 'hit a nerve'. Below is her statement to Re/code:
"For Tim Cook to have such strong feelings about the book, it must have touched a nerve. Even I was surprised by my conclusions, so I understand the sentiment. I'm happy to speak with him or anyone at Apple in public or private. My hope in writing this book was to be thought-provoking and to start a conversation which I'm glad it has."