Who is John Ternus, new Apple CEO?

John Ternus is set to become Apple’s new CEO in September after over two decades at the powerhouse technology company known as the parent of the iPhone, iPad and Mac. 

Ternus 50, has spent most of his career at the company with a focus on hardware engineering. 

He will depart his role as a senior vice president to follow in the footsteps of Cook, who announced earlier this week that he would step down.

“John Ternus has the mind of an engineer, the soul of an innovator, and the heart to lead with integrity and with honor,” Cook said in a statement on the transition. “He is a visionary whose contributions to Apple over 25 years are already too numerous to count, and he is without question the right person to lead Apple into the future.”

“I could not be more confident in his abilities and his character, and I look forward to working closely with him on this transition and in my new role as executive chairman,” the outgoing executive added.

Ternus will lead new pioneering efforts at the corporation based in Cupertino, Calif. He first joined the company in 1998 and had the opportunity to work under the late co-founder Steve Jobs in addition to Cook, whom he’s described as mentors. 

Under Cook’s leadership, Apple saw a 1,000 percent increase in the total dollar value of a company’s outstanding shares and yearly revenue grew from $108 billion in to more than $416 billion in 11 years, according to the company. 

Ternus will be responsible for ensuring more growth, expanding his role from focusing solely on product design to modernizing technology for global competition.

Apple has been delayed in its efforts to release new features that incorporate artificial intelligence in the digital age and still heavily relies upon China for manufacturing. 

“The challenge for the new CEO is really to make sure Apple is able to crack AI as the new user interface and reinvent human machine interaction,” Forrester Research analyst Thomas Husson told The Associated Press. 

Amid the uncertainty of trade relationships in Beijing and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, Ternus will be forced to navigate a complex and nuanced first year at the company all while maintaining a strong relationship with President Trump.

The incoming leader has remained largely uninvolved in politics and his largest political donation of $5,800 was made to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-N.Y.) campaign in 2021, according to Business Insider.

Trump and Cook had a good relationship. The president described him as someone with whom he had a “long and very nice relationship.”

Cook will become the executive chairman of Apple’s board of directors in a role that focuses on “engaging with policymakers around the world.”

The Apple co-founder previously donated $1 million in personal funds to the president’s inaugural committee and served on the American Workforce Advisory Board during Trump’s first term. 

Notably, the company was left out of Trump’s newly created President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, which includes founder and CEO appointees from Google, Oracle, Dell, Coinbase and Meta.