Apple taps John Ternus as CEO to replace Tim Cook, becoming chairman

Ternus, a senior vice president of hardware engineering, will join Apple’s board of directors when he becomes chief. Apple’s non-executive chairman Arthur Levinson will become the iPhone-maker’s lead independent director on that date.

“Cook will continue in his role as CEO through the summer as he works closely with Ternus on a smooth transition,” Apple said in a press release.

It’s the first CEO transition for Apple since Cook, now 65, succeeded Steve Jobs at the helm in 2011, shortly before Jobs’ death. Ternus will become Apple’s eighth CEO.

“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.”

Apple’s market cap increased by roughly 24-fold on Cook’s watch, closing on Monday at $4 trillion. Cook took home $74.6 million in total compensation last year, including a $3 million base salary and millions more in stock awards, according to recent regulatory filings. Forbes estimates his net worth at $2.2 billion.

During his almost 15-year tenure, Cook oversaw Apple’s jump into wearable technology, with the rollout of the Apple Watch, AirPods and the virtual reality headset Vision Pro, which has struggled to find market adoption since its release in 2024.

Revenue almost quadurupled under Cook, climbing to over $400 billion in the latest fiscal year. Cook is best known in Silicon Valley as an operations guru, revamping Apple’s supply chain after joining in 1998 as an executive vice president of worldwide sales and operations. When he arrived, Apple was near bankruptcy.

Cook became one of the Jobs’ loyal lieutenants and was elevated to the role of Apple operations chief in 2005.

Ternus, who’s about 15 years younger than Cook, has been Apple’s hardware boss and has worked at Apple for about half his life, joining just four years after he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in mechanical engineering. He’s been widely viewed as next in line, with recent profiles in The New York Times and Bloomberg. His portfolio has included oversight of the hardware engineering teams behind the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, AirPods and Vision Pro.

However, Apple faces numerous challenges, including an increasingly complex supply chain, geopolitical tensions, the Trump administration’s tariffs and a memory crunch tied to soaring demand for AI chips.

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WATCH: Apple executives Johnny Srouji and John Ternus on its growing chip business.