Apple announced on Monday that Tim Cook is being replaced as the company’s CEO.
Cook, who succeeded Steve Jobs in 2011 shortly before the tech legend’s death, will assume the role of executive chairman effective Sept. 1.
The 65-year-old tech exec will be succeeded by John Ternus, the company’s senior vice president of hardware engineering.
“Cook will continue in his role as CEO through the summer as he works closely with Ternus on a smooth transition,” Apple said in a press release.
Cook’s 15-year tenure saw the tech giant develop products such as AirPods, Apple Watch, and Apple Vision Pro, as well as services like Apple Pay and Apple Music.
Cook shared in a release that “it has been the greatest privilege of my life to be the CEO of Apple” and praised Ternus, 50, as a worthy successor.
“John Ternus has the mind of an engineer, the soul of an innovator, and the heart to lead with integrity and with honor,” he said in the statement. “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.”
Ternus, who was profiled by both The New York Times and Bloomberg this year, will join Apple’s board of directors when he steps into his role as the company’s eighth chief executive. Non-executive chairman Arthur Levinson will become the company’s lead independent director.
Cook will likely still lead Apple’s June keynote, where the company announces its new software and potential hardware.
The tech executive has shown himself to be quite fond of President Donald Trump, having gifted the 79-year-old commander in chief a tacky gold ornament in August after announcing his company’s $100 billion investment in American manufacturing.
In January, Cook caught flak for attending the private premiere of the critically panned Melania documentary at the White House, just hours after federal immigration agents shot and killed 37-year-old VA ICU nurse Alex Pretti in Minneapolis.
Cook was pictured at the event with the film’s disgraced director, Brett Ratner, and faced calls for a boycott of Apple products from customers upset over his appearance.
The CEO shared a personal memo to Apple staff addressing the backlash, saying he had a “good conversation” with Trump about the “events in Minneapolis.”
“This is a time for de-escalation,” he wrote in the note. “I believe America is strongest when we live up to our highest ideals, when we treat everyone with dignity and respect no matter who they are or where they’re from, and when we embrace our shared humanity.”
