Tim Cook to Step Down as Apple CEO After 15 Years
Last update: August 31, 2026
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End of an era at Apple. After 15 years at the very top, Tim Cook is reportedly preparing to hand over the reins.
After a decade and a half leading the world's most valuable company, Tim Cook is set to step down as CEO of Apple.
It's a huge moment. Cook isn't just leaving the top job, he's closing out a chapter that completely reshaped Apple, turning it from a brilliant product company into a flawlessly oiled global machine.
According to a report by cbinews.tv, citing Firstpost, Cook will not be leaving Apple entirely. He is expected to move into the role of executive chairman from September 1, while John Ternus, Apple's current senior vice president of hardware engineering, is set to take over as CEO.
And when you look back, Cook's journey is quite remarkable.
He didn't arrive as a product guru. He joined Apple back in March 1998 as senior vice president for worldwide operations, at a time when the company was in the middle of a major restructuring. His superpower was efficiency.
He wasted no time. Cook closed factories and warehouses, pushed production to contract manufacturers, and slashed inventory from months' worth of stock to just days. He also made some incredibly shrewd long-term bets, investing early in critical components like flash memory long before the iPod Nano, iPhone and iPad made them essential.
That operational brilliance made him indispensable. He went on to become vice president for worldwide sales and operations, then chief operating officer in 2007. During Steve Jobs' medical leaves, it was Cook who kept Apple running day-to-day.
So when Jobs resigned on 24 August 2011, the transition felt seamless. Cook wasn't an outsider; he already knew how Apple ticked.
His style was different, though. Where Jobs was the product visionary, Cook was the master executor. He focused on structure, collaboration, and quietly built Apple's credentials on charity and the environment. You saw it clearly in 2012, when he reshuffled senior leadership after the Apple Maps debacle, decisive, calm, organisational.
For 15 years, his influence has been less about the keynote spotlight and more about the systems, supply chains and strategy that made those keynotes possible.
Now, that era is coming to an end. But it's not a goodbye. By moving to executive chairman, Cook will stay in the boardroom, guiding the company while a new generation takes charge of the day-to-day.
From operations chief in 1998 to CEO in 2011 to executive chairman in 2025 — it's come full circle.
Source/cbinews.tv.
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