New York (AFP) – Apple boss Tim Cook will leave the company's executive leadership in September and will be replaced by a group executive, John Ternus, until now responsible for products such as the iPhone and the Mac, according to a statement published on Monday.

First modification: 04/21/2026 - 13:19

Although Ternus was considered the favorite to succeed Cook, who will become executive chairman of the board of directors, this transfer was not expected to occur so soon.

Asked by AFP, Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, described this change as a "sudden decision."

According to him, the former leader "will leave a lasting mark" on the company, while Ternus will be "under a lot of pressure to achieve a successful start, particularly regarding AI."

Cook came to Apple in 1998 and was appointed CEO in August 2011, after the resignation of Steve Jobs, weakened by pancreatic cancer that would cause his death a few weeks later.

Less charismatic than his predecessor, Cook revealed himself to be an exceptional businessman, guiding Apple along the path of unbridled growth.

Between 2011 and 2025, the company practically quadrupled its turnover and saw its capitalization multiply to exceed $4 trillion today, being the third company in the world to achieve this.

At the same time, Tim Cook's fortune has followed that of the company and now reaches $2.9 billion, according to Forbes magazine's website.

However, critics have criticized it for not launching any product as emblematic as the iPod or the iPhone.

The only new launches under his management are the Apple Watch connected watch, marketed in 2015, and then, in 2024, the Vision Pro virtual reality headset, whose sales have disappointed.

Negotiator

But Cook has excelled on other fronts, especially in the software space.

Thus, it contributed to the take-off of services. This sector, which includes the App Store application store, music streaming platforms (Apple Music) and video (Apple TV), as well as data storage in the cloud (iCloud), has become the company's main growth engine.

"Tim's exceptional leadership has made Apple the best company in the world," said Arthur Levinson, Apple's chairman of the board for 15 years, who will step down but remain a director.

He has also shone for his negotiation and anticipation qualities.

The executive managed to get the group out of the supply difficulties linked to the pandemic and the geopolitical scenario without major incidents last year, in a context of crisis between the United States and China, a key market for Apple.

However, Cook and his team missed the generative artificial intelligence (AI) pivot, marked by the arrival of ChatGPT in November 2022.

Since then, Apple has lagged behind the big players in the sector and has not yet managed to fully integrate the new AI capabilities into its flagship product, the iPhone, which is still waiting for a new version of the Siri assistant.

The announcement comes less than two months before Apple's big annual event, the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), at the beginning of June, in which the apple giant must precisely reveal advances in AI.

In after-hours electronic trading on Wall Street, the stock was only slightly in the red.

An Apple employee since 2001, Ternus will make his entry to the board, in addition to his appointment to general management.

© 2026 AFP

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