Tim Cook To Step Down As Apple CEO

Apple said on April 20 that Tim Cook will step down as chief executive on September 1, and hardware engineering chief John Ternus will take over. (apple.com) Cook will become executive chairman of Apple’s board, and the board said it approved the transition unanimously after a long-term succession process. (apple.com) Ternus is Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Engineering, joined the company in 2001, and will also join Apple’s board on September 1. (apple.com) (reuters.com) Cook, 65, has run Apple for nearly 15 years since succeeding Steve Jobs, and Reuters reported Apple’s market value rose by about $3.6 trillion during his tenure. (reuters.com) The change lands as Apple tries to answer investor concerns that it has fallen behind rivals in artificial intelligence. Reuters said Apple has lost the most-valuable-company title to Nvidia and is still trying to strengthen Siri and its broader AI lineup. (reuters.com) Apple’s investor relations site shows the company is due to report fiscal second-quarter results on Thursday, April 30, putting the leadership change in front of investors within days. (investor.apple.com) Apple also announced a second executive move on April 20: Johny Srouji was named chief hardware officer, effective immediately, alongside the Cook-Ternus transition. (investor.apple.com) In a public letter, Cook said he will keep working through the summer before “leaving the CEO job behind in September” and called Ternus “the perfect person for the job.” (apple.com) Arthur Levinson, Apple’s non-executive chairman for the past 15 years, will become lead independent director when Cook becomes executive chairman. (apple.com) The transition keeps Apple with an internal successor, the same model it used in 2011 when Cook replaced Jobs, and leaves Cook inside the company as chairman rather than exiting outright. (apple.com) (reuters.com)