Earlier this month, the Financial Times reported that Apple is preparing for Tim Cook to step down as CEO of the company “as soon as next year.”
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman doesn’t think Cook will step down in the first half of 2026. The Sellers Research Group (that’s me) doesn’t think he’ll retire at all next year.
“Based on everything I’ve learned in recent weeks, I don’t believe a departure by the middle of next year is likely,” Gurman said in his Power On newsletter today. “In fact, I would be shocked if Cook steps down in the time frame outlined by the FT.”
There have been “few signs internally” that Cook is about to step down, he added. Gurman described the Financial Times report as “premature” and “simply false.”
Even if he does retire next year, he could become the next chairman of Apple’s board of directors. As MacRumors notes: Apple’s current chairman is Arthur D. Levinson, who turned 75 on March 31. Apple has a policy that states that its directors generally may not stand for re-election after age 75, so Levinson has reached that age limit ahead of Apple’s next shareholder meeting, which is when he would otherwise be up for re-election next.
Whenever Cook retires, hardware chief John Ternus is 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.
I feel 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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