Tim Cook is preparing to step down as Apple’s chief executive after 15 years in the role.
Apple announced that Cook will leave the CEO position on September 1, 2026, and become executive chairman of the company’s board.
He will continue working with Apple in his new role, including on certain matters such as engaging with policymakers around the world.
John Ternus, Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Engineering, will take over as CEO on the same day.
Cook became Apple’s CEO in August 2011, succeeding the late Steve Jobs. He has since spent more than a decade leading one of the world’s most valuable technology companies.
Reflecting on his time as CEO, Cook described the job as the greatest privilege of his life and praised the Apple team he has worked with over the years.
I love Apple with all of my being, and I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with a team of such ingenious, innovative, creative and deeply caring people.
Cook also expressed confidence in his successor, describing Ternus as someone with “the mind of an engineer, the soul of an innovator, and the heart to lead with integrity and with honour.”
Ternus, who has spent almost his entire career at Apple, said he was grateful for the opportunity and promised to lead the company with the values and vision that have defined it.
I am humbled to step into this role, and I promise to lead with the values and vision that have come to define this special place for half a century.
Cook’s move will mark the end of one of the longest CEO eras in Apple’s modern history, but he will remain part of the company as it enters its next chapter.