Tim Cook is giving up the CEO position at Apple and handing over to hardware boss John Ternus on September 1st. Cook will then move to chairman of the board of directors, Apple announced late Monday evening in Cupertino. The board of directors’ decision was unanimous and well-considered, it said.
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Cook will continue in his job over the summer to ensure an orderly handover. As Chairman of the Board of Directors, he will continue to serve the company in certain functions and, for example, maintain the company’s relations with politics.
A turning point for Apple
It was already clear that Tim Cook, soon to be 65, would not hold the top job at Apple forever. The rumor mill had already agreed on his successor. Nevertheless, the resignation is a bang and represents another turning point in Apple’s corporate history.
Cook has been at Apple since 1998 and took over the CEO post from seriously ill founder Steve Jobs in 2011. During his term of office, there were numerous successful product launches such as the company’s own ARM processors not only for the iPhone and iPad, but also for all Macs. Johny Srouji, who previously led chip development, will succeed Ternus as hardware boss.
“Being CEO of Apple and being entrusted with leading such an extraordinary company has been the greatest privilege of my life,” said Cook. “John Ternus has the mind of an engineer, the soul of an innovator and the heart to lead with integrity and honor.”
Under Cook’s leadership, Apple has grown into a trillion-dollar company. The stock market initially reacted calmly to the news, which is unlikely to have caused any surprises on Wall Street.
Ternus, now 50 years old, studied mechanical engineering at the renowned University of Pennsylvania (Penn), where he graduated in 1997 with a bachelor’s degree. He joined Apple in 2001 and worked on new hardware. In 2013 he became head of hardware development and was responsible for Macs, iPads and Airpods.
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Cook als Mentor
“I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to continue Apple’s mission,” said Ternus. “Having spent almost my entire career at Apple, I was fortunate to work under Steve Jobs and have Tim Cook as my mentor. It was an honor to help shape the products and experiences that have changed the way we interact with the world and each other.”
As of 2020, Ternus was also responsible for Apple’s most important product: the iPhone. At the age of 44, he was Apple’s youngest top manager, which many observers attribute to his calm temperament. Bloomberg described him in a 2024 profile as follows: “Very reserved, never writes anything controversial in emails and makes decisions very cautiously.”
Ternus has this calm leadership style in common with Cook, which is why Cook named him a good successor a year ago. At the end of 2025, rumors intensified that Ternus could become Apple’s new CEO.
However, Ternus is by no means emotionless. In 2020, he enthusiastically presented the Apple M1 – the SoC that shocked the entire processor competition with its efficiency. He was also recently responsible for showing the iPhone Air for the first time at an Apple event. In the tradition of Steve Jobs, who was succeeded by Tim Cook, Ternus – although an engineer – emphasized the benefits of the products for customers in his presentations, not just the technology.
(vbr)
