Tim Cook, CEO of Apple, in Cupertino, California, on June 9, 2025. JOSH EDELSON/AFP
Is there a limit to the number of revolutions a single CEO can successfully navigate? Tim Cook has clearly reached his quota. Apple announced on Monday, April 20, that its chief executive officer, who profoundly transformed the Cupertino-based company, will step down on September 1 to be replaced by John Ternus. Ternus, a true insider and vice president of hardware engineering, will have to embrace the artificial intelligence revolution, which Apple missed the start of.
"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," said Tim Cook, who will take on the more hands-off role of executive chairman, replacing Art Levinson. While a transition had been expected in the medium term, the suddenness of the announcement caught Wall Street and Silicon Valley off guard. Cook, who succeeded the magnetic and visionary Steve Jobs in 2011, the same year Jobs died, built a reputation as a tech giant in a completely different style.
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