Cook steps down as Apple CEO

Cook has been CEO for 15 years. He took over, at the age of 50, from Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

Although never a product innovator, Cook knew how to maximise the financial returns on Apple’s products – he boosted Apple’s profit 4x to over $110 billion and increased its value 10x to $4 trillion in his time as CEO.

In a memo to staff, Cook wrote:

@Fifteen years ago, my friend and mentor Steve Jobs asked me to step into the role of CEO. It was an emotional and challenging moment for all of us at Apple, and I hoped I’d be up for the awesome responsibility I was taking on.”

@I knew then what I know now: that there are certain values embedded in Apple that are bigger than any of us; a belief in the simple, not the complex; a determination to innovate with a focus on those few things that are truly important to the world and meaningful to us; an impatience for anything less than excellence in every group in the company; a commitment to enriching the lives of those we have a privilege to touch with our work; and a resolve to do all that we can to leave the world better than we found it. Those were the values that made Apple what it was then, and I am proud to say that they are the ideals that animate each of us today.”

Ternus is 50 and currently head of hardware engineering at Apple.

“I am filled with optimism about what we can achieve in the years to come,” said  Ternus  “I promise to lead with the values and vision that have come to define this special place for half a century,” he added.