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Cook Insists ‘This Is Not Goodbye’ After Being Replaced at Apple

The billionaire thanked “everyone for the outpouring of love” in a post on Tuesday.

Tim Cook has shared a statement with Apple fans, and he’s not ready to bid adieu just yet. “This is not goodbye. It’s a hello to John and I can’t wait for you to get to know him like I do! 🙏,” Cook wrote in a Tuesday X post alongside an image of the outgoing CEO with incoming chief executive John Ternus. Apple announced on Monday that Cook will transition to executive chairman by September of this year and will be replaced by Ternus, who is currently the senior vice president of hardware engineering. The tech executive, who took over from Steve Jobs in 2011, oversaw the development of products such as AirPods and the Apple Watch, as well as services such as Apple Pay and Apple Music. Cook also had an unusually close relationship with President Donald Trump, gifting the commander-in-chief a tacky gold ornament last summer. Their relationship reportedly began when Cook called Trump during his first administration for “BIG HELPS,” an encounter the president described in a Truth Social post as an attempt to “kiss my a--.”