"Thunderbolt (originally codenamed Light Peak) is an interface for connecting peripheral devices to a computer via a peripheral bus.
Thunderbolt was developed by Intel and brought to market with technical collaboration from Apple Inc. It was introduced commercially on Apple's updated MacBook Pro lineup on 24 February 2011, using the same port and connector as Mini DisplayPort."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbolt_(interface)
So yes Apple did help develop/ implement it! So they stand to profit from this technology if it becomes a standard. Just like how they stood to profit if FireWire became a industry standard. Apple didn't develop the FireWire itself either but was a major player in trying to make it an industry standard.
"FireWire is Apple's name for the IEEE 1394 High Speed Serial Bus. It was initiated by Apple (in 1986[2]) and developed by the IEEE P1394 Working Group, largely driven by contributions from Apple, although major contributions were also made by engineers from Texas Instruments, Sony, Digital Equipment Corporation, IBM, and INMOS/SGS Thomson (now STMicroelectronics)."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_1394_interface