Apple CEO to sit with first lady at State of the Union address
Chief Executive Tim Cook is getting VIP treatment at the president's annual speech.
Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook, a man who typifies American innovation, will have the best seat in the house at President Barack Obama's Statue of the Union address tomorrow evening.
The executive will be joining Michelle Obama in the first lady's box, CNET has confirmed with a White House official.
The first lady also extended special invitations to victims of gun violence, immigration reform advocates, and middle class families whose lives will benefit from the policy proposals the president plans to discuss tomorrow night at the White House.
Last year, Laurene Powell Jobs, the wife of late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, and Mike Krieger, co-founder of Instagram, represented the tech elite at the annual address. Here's another fun piece of Apple trivia for you: In 1993, then Apple CEO John Sculley sat next to Hillary Clinton during her husband's first State of the Union address.
Also in attendance at this year's SOTU, albeit without first lady favor, will be 100 of the White House's followers from Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. The group, which represents people from 20 states, was selected out of an applicant pool of 2,000 social-media hopefuls. They've been invited to watch the speech live at the White House and participate in a post-address discussion.
Meanwhile, the president is showing a continued tech savvy with a post-speech agenda that includes a "Fireside Hangout," or a web broadcast using the Hangout feature of Google's social network. President Obama will use the tool on Thursday at 4:50 p.m. ET to answer questions from the American people.
[via Mercury News]