Tim Cook didn’t get to be a part of a “thoughtful, long-term succession plan” in 2011. After stepping in for Steve Jobs multiple times during the Apple co-founder’s fight with cancer, Cook became CEO, and Jobs became executive chairman just 43 days before Jobs died. Apple didn’t dictate the executive transition. Jobs’s cancer did.
I get the sense that Cook wanted to give his own successor the thoughtful, long-term plan that Jobs couldn’t give to him. Nearly two years ago, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman suggested that Ternus could be Cook’s planned successor. By the time the Financial Times reported that Ternus was likely to succeed Cook last November, it was clear things were already headed in that direction. I doubt there was a single person at the March unveiling of the MacBook Neo who didn’t know that John Ternus, who spoke to the crowd, was likely to be Apple’s next CEO.
Tim Cook knows he can’t stay at Apple forever. The longer he lengthened his tenure as CEO, the shorter he risked making the transitional period. I’d actually be surprised if Cook isn’t in the executive chairmanship for a lot longer than people expect. I don’t think he’s ready to put Apple in the rearview—but I do think he’s trying to get the timing on this exactly right.
