SAN FRANCISCO – In a historic leadership shift marking a new era for one of the world’s most valuable technology companies, Apple announced Monday that longtime chief executive Tim Cook will transition out of the top role this September, passing the torch to respected company veteran John Ternus. Cook, 65, will shift into the position of executive chairman of the board after handing off CEO responsibilities, resolving years of public speculation about who would eventually take over the leadership of the Silicon Valley giant.
“It has been the greatest privilege of my life to be the CEO of Apple and to have been trusted to lead such an extraordinary company,” Cook shared in an official statement announcing the transition.
Cook first joined Apple back in 1998, quickly climbing the corporate ranks through a track record of steady, results-driven leadership. As chief operating officer, he played a foundational role in streamlining and scaling the iPhone maker’s notoriously complex global supply chain, laying the groundwork for the company’s massive growth in the decades that followed. He stepped into the CEO role in 2011, just after Apple’s legendary co-founder Steve Jobs stepped down amid failing health, a moment that left many industry analysts questioning whether the company could retain its innovative momentum without Jobs at the helm.
Over Cook’s 14-year tenure as CEO, he delivered far beyond those early doubts, guiding the company through an unprecedented expansion. He broadened Apple’s product portfolio to include new categories like the Apple Watch and AirPods, while growing the company’s market capitalization to a staggering $4 trillion, cementing Apple’s position as the world’s most valuable publicly traded company.
Arthur Levinson, who currently serves as Apple’s non-executive board chairman, praised Cook’s transformative leadership in the announcement. “Tim’s unprecedented and outstanding leadership has transformed Apple into the world’s best company,” Levinson said. “His integrity and values are infused into everything Apple does.” Following the transition, Levinson will move into the role of lead independent director of the board, clearing the way for Cook to take the executive chairman post.
The incoming CEO, Ternus, is a 23-year Apple veteran who got his start on the company’s product design team back in 2001. Over the following two decades, he worked his way up to senior vice president of hardware engineering, leading development of many of Apple’s most iconic modern products. Apple credits Ternus with key contributions to every major product line, from the latest generations of iPhones and iPads to the Apple Watch and the redesigned line of Mac computers.
“I am profoundly grateful for this opportunity to carry Apple’s mission forward,” Ternus said. “Having spent almost my entire career at Apple, I have been lucky to have worked under Steve Jobs and to have had Tim Cook as my mentor.”
The leadership transition comes as Apple celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, at a moment when the global AI boom is forcing the company to prove it can deliver another generation of culture-shifting innovation, a bar it has met repeatedly over its half-century history.
Apple’s journey began in earnest in 1976, when two college dropouts — marketing visionary Steve Jobs and engineering pioneer Steve Wozniak — launched the company out of Jobs’s family garage in Cupertino, California. The pair revolutionized personal computing and digital technology, upending how people work, consume music, and connect with one another. Their work laid the foundation for the modern smartphone era, creating a global lifestyle centered on mobile apps and connected devices that endures today. Decades later, Apple’s flagship products still maintain a fiercely loyal global customer base, spanning generations of technology users.