I’m skeptical, but Apple is looking into potential successors for CEO Tim Cook who could retire early next year, according to The Financial Times (a subscription is required to read the article).
The FT doesn’t say why Apple is accelerating its efforts in this regard (though I’m not sure it actually is), but says it’s not due to the company’s performance.
“People close to Apple say the long-planned transition is not related to the company’s current performance, ahead of what is expected to be a blockbuster end-of-year sales period for the iPhone,” the article says. “The company is unlikely to name a new CEO before its next earnings report in late January, which covers the critical holiday period.”
At one point Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams was considered the heir apparent, but he’s now officially retired. Right now the front runner may be hardware chief John Ternus.
He’s a prime candidate to replace Cook as he’s the youngest person among Apple execs at 50. The others range from 53 (Chief Financial Officer Kevan Parekh) to 64 (Cook).
Here is Ternus’ profile at the Apple Leadership page: John Ternus is Apple’s senior vice president of Hardware Engineering, reporting to CEO Tim Cook. John leads all hardware engineering, including the teams behind iPhone, iPad, Mac, AirPods, and more.
John joined Apple’s Product Design team in 2001 and has been a vice president of Hardware Engineering since 2013. Throughout his tenure at Apple, John has overseen hardware engineering work on a variety of groundbreaking products including every generation and model of iPad, the latest iPhone lineup, and AirPods. He has been a key leader in the ongoing transition of the Mac to Apple Silicon.
According to the Sellers Research Group (that’s met) another likely candidate to succeed Cook is Craig Federighi. He’s the current senior vice president of software engineering at the company? He seems like a natural heir to the throne and he is, arguably, the best “face” of Apple during online and live media events.
Federighi oversees the development of iOS and macOS. He returned to Apple in 2009 to lead macOS engineering, and in 2012 took on responsibility for iOS as well.
Prior to his return, Federighi worked at NeXT, followed by Apple, and then spent a decade at Ariba, an internet e-commerce pioneer where he held several roles including chief technology officer. Craig holds a Master of Science degree in Computer Science and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley.Federighi oversees the development of iOS and macOS. He returned to Apple in 2009 to lead macOS engineering, and in 2012 took on responsibility for iOS as well.
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