Unsurprisingly, Apple is approaching a major turning point in its governance. Much of its management team is now approaching retirement age, which suggests that new faces will be arriving in strategic positions by the end of the decade.
Tim Cook, but not only him
In his Sunday newsletter, Mark Gurman reignited the debate over the succession of Tim Cook — currently 64 years old — which is often at the forefront of public attention. But the issue goes far beyond him alone: almost the entire Apple executive committee is over 59 years old.
Among them are Katherine Adams (61), SVP and General Counsel; Eddy Cue (60), in charge of Services; John Giannandrea (60), Machine Learning & AI; Greg Joswiak (61), who oversees Worldwide Marketing; Deirdre O’Brien (59), the wonder woman of Retail + People; Johny Srouji (61), head of Hardware Technologies, and Sabih Khan (59), newly appointed COO, replacing Jeff Williams (62), who continues to oversee Design, Watch & Health.
But some are still young, such as John Ternus (50), who took over as head of Hardware Engineering in 2021, and Kevan Parekh (53), appointed CFO in 2024. Or Craig Federighi (who is, after all, a youngster at 56) for Software Engineering.
An inevitable but controlled transition
While some analysts like to divide the history of tech giants into eras — that of the visionary founder (Steve Jobs) and then that of the financial manager (such as Tim Cook) — Apple’s future seems less marked by disruption than by continuity.
Tim Cook’s successor will likely be chosen for their ability to pursue a pragmatic strategy focused on numbers and profitability rather than bold moves. Similarly, future vice-presidents will need to fit this profile, consolidating the company’s stability rather than radically transforming it.
