Tim Cook Stepping Down as Apple CEO, to Be Succeeded by John Ternus at Tech Giant

Tim Cook is set to exit as Apple‘s CEO after 15 years. John Ternus, senior VP of hardware engineering, will become Apple’s next chief executive officer, the company announced.

Cook will become executive chairman of Apple’s board of directors and Ternus will become its next CEO effective Sept. 1, 2026. The transition, which was approved unanimously by the board of directors, follows “a thoughtful, long-term succession planning process,” the company said.

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“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 said in a statement. “I love Apple with all of my being, and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with a team of such ingenious, innovative, creative and deeply caring people who have been unwavering in their dedication to enriching the lives of our customers and creating the best products and services in the world.”

Cook, 65, first joined Apple in March 1998 and was named CEO in August 2011, shortly before the death of co-founder and previous CEO Steve Jobs. Prior to that, Cook was the tech giant’s COO and served as head of Apple’s Macintosh division.

Under Cook’s leadership, the company has launched into several new product and service categories, including with entertainment streaming service Apple TV (previously called Apple TV+) and Apple Music.

Ternus, 50, joined the executive team in 2021 as SVP of hardware engineering. Over the course of his 25-year tenure so far at Apple, Ternus has overseen hardware engineering work on a variety of products across every category. The company said he was “instrumental” in the launch of multiple new product lines, including iPad and AirPods, as well as many generations of products across iPhone, Mac and Apple Watch. Ternus joined Apple’s product design team in 2001.

“I am profoundly grateful for this opportunity to carry Apple’s mission forward,” Ternus said in a statement. “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. It has been a privilege to help shape the products and experiences that have changed so much of how we interact with the world and with one another.”

Regarding Ternus, Cook said that he “has the mind of an engineer, the soul of an innovator, and the heart to lead with integrity and with honor. He is a visionary whose contributions to Apple over 25 years are already too numerous to count, and he is without question the right person to lead Apple into the future. I could not be more confident in his abilities and his character, and I look forward to working closely with him on this transition and in my new role as executive chairman.”

Arthur Levinson, who has been Apple’s non-executive chairman for the past 15 years, will become its lead independent director on Sept. 1 with the CEO changeover. Ternus will join the Apple board of directors on the same date. Levinson is the founder and CEO of Calico Labs, a Google-backed company focused on researching aging and age-related diseases.