Apple taps John Ternus as CEO to replace Tim Cook, becoming chairman

Apple said on Monday that John Ternus is succeeding Tim Cook as CEO, with Cook assuming the role of executive chairman on Sept. 1.

Ternus, a senior vice president of hardware engineering, will join Apple’s board of directors when he becomes chief. Apple’s nonexecutive chairman Arthur Levinson will become the iPhone maker’s lead independent director at that time.

“Cook will continue in his role as CEO through the summer as he works closely with Ternus on a smooth transition,” Apple said in a press release. The company said in a filing that the board made the appointment on Friday.

It’s the first CEO transition for Apple since Cook, now 65, succeeded Steve Jobs at the helm in 2011, shortly before Jobs’ death. Ternus will become Apple’s eighth CEO.

“It has been the greatest privilege of my life to be the CEO of Apple and to have been trusted to lead such an extraordinary company,” Cook said in a statement. “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 who have been unwavering in their dedication to enriching the lives of our customers and creating the best products and services in the world.”

Apple also said that Johny Srouji will become chief hardware officer, taking over for Ternus in an expanded role. Srouji, who most recently served as the company’s senior vice president of hardware technologies, will also lead hardware engineering.

Apple’s market cap increased by more than 20-fold on Cook’s watch, closing on Monday at $4 trillion. Cook took home $74.6 million in total compensation last year, including a $3 million base salary and millions more in stock awards, according to recent regulatory filings. Forbes estimates his net worth at close to $3 billion.

However, as Cook exits, Apple faces numerous challenges, including an increasingly complex supply chain, geopolitical tensions, the Trump administration’s tariffs and a memory crunch tied to soaring demand for AI chips.

Ternus, 50, has been Apple’s hardware boss and has worked at Apple for about half his life, joining just four years after he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in mechanical engineering. He’s been widely viewed as next in line, with recent profiles in The New York Times and Bloomberg. His portfolio has included oversight of the hardware engineering teams behind the iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, AirPods and Vision Pro.

Ternus came to Apple in 2001 after a four-year stint as a mechanical engineer at Virtual Research Systems. At Apple, he worked on the product design team, and in 2013 he became a vice president of hardware engineering.