- CEO Tim Cook will remain at Apple for at least three more years, Bloomberg reports.
- Cook previously said he hoped his replacement would be an internal hire.
- According to Bloomberg, executives Jeff Williams and John Ternas are potential successors.
Tim Cook won’t be steering Apple’s ship forever.
Cook, who succeeded Apple founder Steve Jobs, helped push Apple’s market capitalization to over $3 trillion, and the company’s market cap could top $4 trillion by 2025.
But the 63-year-old CEO is also thinking about who will come after him. In October, Cook told singer Dua Lipa on the “At Your Service” podcast that he hoped her successor would “come from within Apple.”
And that’s a very likely scenario, according to “several people familiar with Apple’s inner workings” interviewed by Bloomberg.
Bloomberg reports that Cook is not expected to step down for at least three years, but company officials are considering several CEO candidates.
Apple did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment.
Jeff Williams, Chief Operating Officer
Williams has been widely seen as Cook’s logical successor since 2019, when he took over Apple’s design studio following the departure of chief design officer Jony Ive, according to Bloomberg. .
Mr. Williams was once called “Tim Cook’s Tim Cook.” Both men are said to have similar leadership styles.
Williams oversaw the development of the Apple Watch and now manages Apple’s global operations. The executive recently announced that Apple is abandoning a decade-long effort to make electric cars.
But company insiders told Bloomberg that because Williams is 61 years old, he may not be a long-term leader.
John Ternus, Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering
Company officials told Bloomberg that because of Williams’ age, John Ternus will likely replace Cook after he leaves the company.
At Apple, Ternus leads hardware engineering for the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and AirPods, and has been with the company for more than 20 years.
“Tim likes him a lot because he can give great presentations, is very gentle, never writes anything controversial in an email, and is a very quiet decision-maker. A person close to Apple’s management told Bloomberg. “He has many of the characteristics of a manager like Tim.”
But one person who spoke to Bloomberg described the 49-year-old executive as “too young.”
Others told Bloomberg that he was not an “innovator” and that Ternus was behind the controversial introduction of the Touch Bar for MacBook keyboards, which was discontinued last year.
unlikely candidate
Bloomberg cited two other executives who could replace Cook, but are unlikely, according to a company insider who spoke to the paper.
Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering, is responsible for the development of iOS and macOS.
Mr. Federighi is more publicly known than some of his colleagues. The clip, shown at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in June 2023, shows the leather-jacketed executive being shredded by a triple-neck guitar.
Deirdre O’Brien, senior vice president of retail, who Bloomberg described as a confidant of Mr. Cook, is also a candidate. The executive helped launch Apple’s first retail store in 2001 and assumed his current position in 2019.
If O’Brien takes over as leader, she will be the first female CEO of Apple, which was founded in 1976.
