Apple chief executive Tim Cook announced that Apple had laid out $100 million to charity in a town hall meeting at Apple HQ -- an announcement made right after the New York Times released a story alleging abusive working conditions in Apple's supply chain.
Cook said and expressed pride last week that Apple donated $50 million to Stanford University hospitals and another $50 million to Project RED, a global agency trying to eradicate AIDS, according to The Verge.
As previously wrote, Cook is different from Steve Jobs because Jobs wasn't a philanthropist and didn't believe that Apple's money should go anywhere but to Apple. Cook, unlike Jobs, instituted a company matching philanthropy program in September as one of his first moves as CEO. The company would match any gift up to $10,000 made by employees. Apparently Cook's vision of Apple is as a good, moral company doing what's right.
However, after last week's report about inhumane conditions at Chinese factories in Apple's supply chain, Cook could have easily tackled that public relations debacle with a few million dollars, which would have done wonders to create better living and working conditions for workers.
Cook's $100 million donation can make people feel warm and fuzzy about Apple, but one can't say it counteracts the other side of the world where Apple's darker side prevails.