Apple has not yet finalised what it will pay John Ternus as its next chief executive, but the compensation gap between the incoming CEO and the man he is replacing is already clear from public filings.
Ternus, 50, was named Tim Cook's successor on Monday, effective 1 September 2026. Cook, 65, will move into a newly created executive chairman role. Apple's board backed the change with a unanimous vote, Apple said in a statement.
A regulatory filing submitted on Monday indicated Apple would disclose Ternus's CEO pay package within four business days, Fortune reported. Until then, the only benchmark is what Apple pays its other senior vice presidents and what it paid Cook.
Ternus was not among the executives whose pay Apple disclosed in its latest proxy. The company's standard package for senior vice presidents runs to roughly $27 million (£20.4 million) a year—a $1 million (£756,000) base salary, a $20 million (£15.1 million) target equity grant, and a cash bonus set at 200 per cent of base pay.
Chief operating officer Sabih Khan and general counsel Kate Adams each earned in that range for fiscal 2025.
Cook Earned Nearly Three Times Typical SVP Pay In 2025
Cook's total pay for fiscal 2025 reached $74.3 million (£56.2 million), Apple's proxy statement showed. The figure edged down slightly from $74.6 million (£56.4 million) in 2024 but marked a jump from $63.2 million (£47.8 million) in 2023.
Stock awards made up the largest slice at $57.5 million (£43.5 million). He received $12 million (£9.1 million) in performance-linked cash incentives and a $3 million (£2.3 million) base salary that has stayed flat since 2016. The remainder covered security expenses, private air travel, and retirement plan contributions, CNBC reported.
Put differently, Cook's equity awards alone outstripped the total compensation of any individual SVP at Apple. If Ternus earned in the $25 million to $27 million (£18.9 million to £20.4 million) band as hardware chief, Cook was taking home roughly three times that amount.
Their respective fortunes reflect the same disparity. Forbes valued Cook's personal wealth at approximately $2.5 billion (£1.9 billion) as of October 2025, largely driven by stock accumulated over 28 years at the company.
Ternus's net worth is estimated at around $75 million (£56.7 million), according to Celebrity Net Worth, a figure built across more than two decades of equity grants and salary.
Three months ago on TBPN, @markgurman explained why John Ternus is the "only guy" that could become the next CEO of Apple:
— TBPN (@tbpn) April 20, 2026
"All signs are turning towards Ternus."
"Ternus is 50. Everyone else on the Apple executive team is late 50s through their mid 60s. Turning 66 this year,… pic.twitter.com/lQ7bhyxiI4
Hardware Engineer Turned CEO After 25 Years At Apple
Ternus spent four years at Virtual Research Systems, a company that worked on early VR headsets, before joining Apple's product design team in 2001. He rose to vice president of hardware engineering in 2013 and took over the senior vice president title in January 2021 after Dan Riccio stepped away from the role.
Apple said he was instrumental in launching the iPad and AirPods lines and in developing successive generations of the iPhone, Mac, and Apple Watch.
'I am profoundly grateful for this opportunity to carry Apple's mission forward,' Ternus said in the company's announcement. Cook, in a letter to shareholders, called him someone with 'the mind of an engineer, the soul of an innovator, and the heart to lead with integrity.'
Under Cook's 15-year tenure, Apple's share price rose more than 1,700 per cent. The company's market capitalisation stood at $4 trillion (£3 trillion) at Monday's close. Shares slipped less than 1 per cent in after-hours trading once the succession was announced.
Cook will stay on as CEO through the summer before shifting to the chairman role, where he will focus partly on policy engagement. Johny Srouji, SVP of hardware technologies, takes on an expanded brief covering Ternus's former duties. Arthur Levinson moves from nonexecutive chairman to lead independent director.
Formal contracts bind none of Apple's executives, and the company offers no guaranteed severance. Cook's age and tenure make him eligible for continued vesting of his stock awards. Fortune reported that had he stepped down last September, his unvested equity could have been worth more than $256 million (£193.5 million) at maximum payout.
