Apple's Tim Cook to step down as CEO in September
21 Apr 2026 , 04:37 AM
Apple's Tim Cook to step down as CEO in September
Apple veteran John Ternus will succeed Cook as the company's CEO.
Apple CEO Tim Cook makes a victory sign in Davos, Switzerland, on Jan 20, 2026. (File photo: AP/Gian Ehrenzeller)
SAN FRANCISCO: Apple on Monday (Apr 20) announced that Tim Cook will step down as the tech giant's chief executive officer in September, handing the top job to company veteran John Ternus.
The announcement answers long-simmering questions about a successor for 65-year-old Cook, who said he will become executive chairman of the board when he cedes Apple's CEO position.
"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.
Cook joined Apple in 1998, rising through the ranks and helping drive its success as chief operating officer coordinating the iPhone maker's complex supply chain.
He became chief executive in 2011 after its iconic co-founder and leader Steve Jobs left due to health issues.
Cook was recruited by Jobs from Compaq at a time when that firm was riding high on the 1990s PC boom and Jobs was working to rescue Apple from the brink of insolvency.
He is credited with expanding Apple's product line and ramping up the company's value to about US$4 trillion based on the value of its shares.
While Cook made his early reputation at Apple by building out its sprawling supply chain in China, over the years, he became a celebrity CEO in his own right.
He was the first Fortune 500 CEO to come out as gay in 2014 and took public stances on issues such as workplace diversity and corporate sustainability.
Cook, who presented a custom golden plaque to United States President Donald Trump, will continue to engage with policymakers, Apple said.
"Tim's unprecedented and outstanding leadership has transformed Apple into the world's best company," outgoing chairman of the board Arthur Levinson said in the statement.
"His integrity and values are infused into everything Apple does."
Levinson currently holds the board chairmanship in a non-executive role. He will become the board's lead independent director.
Ternus, who joined Apple in 2001, has played a key role in reigniting sales of products such as Apple's Mac computers, which have gained market share in recent years.
At 50, Ternus is the same age Cook was when he took over CEO duties from Jobs. He most recently showed the company's iPhone Air last autumn, the biggest revamp of the iPhone since 2017 and a key proving ground for several new chips.
Ternus, who helped bring about now-ubiquitous products such as iPads and AirPods, will be tasked with helping Apple navigate a technology landscape upended by artificial intelligence, after losing its crown as the world's most valuable company to Nvidia.
Ternus will have to fend off Nvidia, which has announced its own personal computer and is working on chips that can power laptops, as well as rivals such as Meta Platforms, whose augmented-reality glasses have become a surprise hit with just a fraction of the capabilities - and price tag - of Apple's Vision Pro headset.
"The promotion of Mr Ternus indicates the company will focus on new hardware devices such as folding phones, glasses, VR devices and AI pins," said Gil Luria, managing director of DA Davidson & Co.
"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."
Apple marks its 50th anniversary this year as artificial intelligence challenges the Silicon Valley legend to prove it can deliver yet another culture-changing innovation.
Jobs, a driven marketing genius, and Steve Wozniak, who invented the Apple computer, revolutionised how people use technology in the internet age.
The two men - both college dropouts - changed the way people use computers, listen to music and communicate on the go, giving rise to lifestyles revolving around smartphone apps.
Apple's hit products - the Mac, the iPhone, the Apple Watch and the iPad - command a cult-like following, long after the company's humble beginnings on Apr 1, 1976, in Jobs's Cupertino, California garage.
*Devashish Govind Tokekar*
*VANDE Bharat live tv news Nagpur*
Editor/Reporter/Journalist
RNI:- MPBIL/25/A1465
*Indian Council of press,Nagpur*
Journalist Cell
*All India Media Association
Nagpur*
*District President*
*Delhi Crime Press*
RNI NO : DELHIN/2005/15378
AD.Associate /Reporter
*INDIAN PRESS UNION*
District Reporter
Contact no.
9422428110/9146095536
Head office:- plot no 18/19, flat no. 201,Harmony emporise, Payal -pallavi society new Manish Nagar somalwada nagpur - 440015
