Tim Cook has stepped down as the chief executive of Apple – as the global tech giant announces its new boss.
Cook, 65, has led Apple since 2011 shortly before the resignation and death of the late co-founder Steve Jobs.
During his tenure, the tech goliath’s annual profit has quadrupled to more than $110 billion, while its value rocketed more than tenfold to $4 trillion.
John Ternus, 50, will replace Cook as the executive chairman and is set to take over from September 1.
Ternus is currently head of hardware engineering and has been at Apple for 25 years.
When speaking about his time in charge, Cook described the job as “the greatest privilege of my life” and during his tenure he led the company to become one of the most valuable in the world.
He also described Ternus as a “visionary” executive with “the mind of an engineer, the soul of an innovator and the heart to lead with integrity and honour”.
“He is without question the right person to lead Apple into the future,” Cook added.
Ternus said in a statement: “I am filled with optimism about what we can achieve in the years to come,”
“I promise to lead with the values and vision that have come to define this special place for half a century,” he added.
During his quarter century at the company, Ternus has worked on practically every major product the company released, including every generation of the iPad, many generations of the iPhone, and the launch of AirPods and the Apple Watch.
He will be Apple’s eighth chief executive since its founding 50 years ago.
Apple remains one of the most profitable and valuable companies in the world, thanks to the stability of sales of products like iPhones and the Apple Watch, as well as services including iCloud and Apple Pay.
