Apple’s outgoing chief executive Tim Cook has explained why he has decided to stand down from leading the $4 billion company.
Mr Cook said he is “healthy” and will continue to play an active role in Apple’s operations, with a focus on its global relationships.
But he said that he had decided to stand down at a time where the “business had to be doing great,” the “product road map to be incredible” and that his replacement John Ternus was “ready for the role”. “Now was the time,” he told Apple staff in a company meeting first reported by Bloomberg.
Mr Cook and Apple announced that he would step down as its chief executive this week, taking up a new role as its executive chairman. He will be replaced by Mr Ternus, a 51-year-old who has worked at Apple for almost all of his career and currently leads its hardware engineering efforts.
As executive chairman, Mr Cook is expected to focus on political relationships. He has become close to Donald Trump over his second term as president – a relationship that has proven controversial – and he suggested in the meeting that his work would focus on such global relations.
“This is an area where we’ve built relationships over multiple years and a decade-plus, and I think I can help with that,” he said. “And I’ll probably help on some other things.”
Mr Cook, who is 65 years old, confirmed he is “healthy”, that his “energy is high” and that he expects to serve in the executive chairman role “for a long time”. He took over the company in the wake of his predecessor Steve Jobs’ illness with cancer.
In his own remarks, Mr Ternus also pointed to Apple’s upcoming products. He said he is “especially excited to be stepping into this role at this moment, because I am telling you we are about to change the world once again”.
