Tim Cook is stepping down as head of Apple. John Ternus will take his place

Apple announced on April 20 that John Ternus will become its new CEO, effective September 1, 2026.

Tim Cook, who has led the company for the past 15 years, will serve as executive chairman.

“It is the greatest honor of my life to serve as CEO of Apple and to enjoy the trust placed in me to lead such a great company,” Cook, 65, said in a statement.

John Ternus is now Apple's Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering. According to Cook, Ternus has "the mind of an engineer, the soul of an innovator and the desire to lead with integrity and dignity."

Ternus has been with Apple since 2001. He started as an engineer and rose to lead the development of the company's best-selling products, including the iPhone, iPad and Mac. Colleagues call Ternus “just a good guy,” “an attentive engineer and a balanced leader.” As head of Apple, analysts say , Ternus will have to lead the company's strategy in the field of artificial intelligence. Apple is struggling to embrace the technology after a series of missteps in the final years of Cook's leadership.

Apple announced an imminent change of CEO after the end of trading on the stock market. During trading after the stock exchange closed, Apple shares fell and as of 00:03 Moscow time on April 21 were trading at $270.7 per share (−0.86%).

• The Financial Times previously wrote that Apple could announce a new leader in the first half of 2026. According to the publication, this will allow the new head of the company to get comfortable before such major annual events as the developer conference in June and the presentation of new iPhones in September.
• Tim Cook has been with Apple since 1998. He became the head of the company in August 2011, replacing Steve Jobs in this post.
• During Cook's tenure as CEO, Apple's market capitalization grew from approximately $350 billion in 2011 to more than $4 trillion as of April 20, 2026.