Overview
- Tim Cook formally left the CEO role on Monday, Aug. 31, 2026, and posted a farewell message thanking the Apple community.
- Apple confirmed Cook will stay on the board as executive chairman and will help with high-level policy work and relations with governments.
- John Ternus, a 25-year Apple veteran and current senior vice president of hardware engineering, will become CEO on Sept. 1, 2026.
- Ternus’s first public test is Apple’s Sept. 9 product event where he must lead new hardware announcements and oversee Apple’s early public AI efforts.
- Cook’s 15-year tenure built Apple’s services business and grew market value from roughly $350 billion to over $4 trillion, and the company used job-shadowing, staff continuity and farewell events to smooth the handoff.