DURHAM – Apple CEO Tim Cook has reiterated his commitment to building a “new campus,” a project that could very well end up being constructed in Research Triangle Park.
Cook said in an interview taped while he was in Durham to deliver the commencement address at Duke University last month that Apple also plans to hire 20,000 additional people.
Many of those jobs could come to North Carolina where sources tell WRAL and WRAL TechWire that Apple is considering investing $1.5 billion in a $600 million campus, a $900 million expansion of its data center complex in western North Carolina, and a facility in Cary.
In the interview with David Rubenstein, a billionaire founder of private equity firm Carlyle Group, Cook was asked how Apple planned to invest some $260 billion in cash.
“We’re going to create a new site, a new campus within the United States,” Cook said in the video interview which Bloomberg TV released on Wednesday.
“We’re going to hire 20,000 people. We’re going to spend $30 billion in capital expenditure over the next several years. Number one, we’re investing, and investing a ton, in this country. We’re also going to buy some of our stock, as we view our stock as a good value.”
Reports have also said Apple is considering the Washington, D.C. area for a campus.
Apple has been very secretive about negotiations.
Earlier this week, the North Carolina General Assembly overrode a veto of the state’s new two-year budget by Gov. Roy Cooper. Since the budget includes a restructured incentives plan geared to attract a project similar to what Apple has discussed, the vote could clear the way for an Apple decision.
You can watch the interview between Apple Cook and Rubenstein online.
