Apple transitions leadership from Tim Cook to John Ternus after 15-year run

Tim Cook is stepping down as Apple’s CEO. The man who turned a $350 billion company into a $4 trillion behemoth is handing the keys to John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of hardware engineering, effective September 1, 2026. Cook isn’t leaving entirely. He’s moving into the role of executive chairman, which means he’ll still be around for policy decisions and global engagement but won’t be running day-to-day operations. Arthur Levinson, the current non-executive chairman, will shift to lead independent director. The new guy has been there all along John Ternus isn’t some outside hire parachuting into Cupertino. He’s been at Apple since 2001, which means he predates the iPhone, the iPad, the Apple Watch, and basically everything that made Apple the company it is today. During his 25 years at the company, Ternus has overseen engineering for nearly every significant hardware product Apple makes. iPhone, iPad, Mac: his fingerprints are on all of them. Ternus will also join Apple’s board of directors as part of the transition, giving him a seat at both the operational and governance tables. Cook’s legacy in numbers When Tim Cook took over from Steve Jobs in August 2011, Apple’s a...