Tim Cook has finished his last earnings call as Apple CEO, and he spent the top of it talking about the exit rather than the quarter. Cook has been at Apple for 28 years, 15 of them running the company. He said Thursday’s call was his 89th during his tenure.
“Good afternoon, everyone, and thanks for joining the call. Before we get into the quarter, I wanted to take a moment to talk about the transition we recently announced. I just celebrated my 28th anniversary of being here at Apple—15 years as CEO. In fact, this will be my 89th earnings call. I will always be proud of the impact Apple has had on our users’ lives and I cannot begin to express how grateful I am for our amazing teams. It is because of them that there is no company like Apple, and I truly believe there never will be,” Cook said.
On why the handoff is happening now, he pointed to the balance sheet and the product pipeline.
“This moment for the transition is the right one for a number of reasons. First, our business has been performing extremely well. The first half of this year was very strong, growing double digits year over year. Second, our roadmap is incredible. And most importantly, we have the right leader ready to step into the role. As I have said, there is no one on this planet I trust more to lead Apple into the future than John Ternus. John is a brilliant engineer, a deep thinker, a person of remarkable character, and a born leader,” Cook added.
He kept going on Ternus, who currently runs hardware engineering.
“I know he will push us to go further than we think is possible in order to deliver the greatest products and services for our users. I have been so proud to call him a colleague and a friend and I will be even more proud to call him Apple’s CEO. Over the coming months, John and I will be working closely together to make sure this transition is perfectly smooth. I very much look forward to stepping into the role of executive chairman on September 1. As I have told John, I will be here to support him in any way he needs and in any way I can,” Cook said.
Then a thank you to shareholders, and a handoff of the mic.
“I am incredibly optimistic about Apple’ future and I know we have the right team in place to deliver on the promise of this company. I also want to take just a moment to share my profound gratitude for our shareholders, especially our long-term shareholders, for believing in Apple and for your support over the years. It means a great deal to all of us. With that, I would like to bring John on the call for a moment to say a few words. John?” Cook said.
Ternus, who has been at Apple for 25 years, used his time to signal that the financial approach is not changing.
“In my view, Tim is one of the greatest business leaders of all time. Stepping into the role of CEO is incredible, and it means a great deal to me to have Tim’s trust and confidence. I want to echo Tim’s sentiment about our shareholders, especially those who have been with us for many years. Thank you so much for your confidence in our company. As you know, one of the hallmarks of Tim’s tenure has been a deep thoughtfulness, deliberateness, and discipline when it comes to the financial decision-making of the company. And I want you to know that is something Kevan and I intend to continue when I transition into the role in September,” Ternus said.
He gave up nothing on what’s actually coming, which is about what you’d expect on an earnings call.
“This is an especially exciting moment for Apple. As Tim mentioned, we have an incredible roadmap ahead. And while you are not going to get me to talk about the details of that roadmap, suffice it to say, this is the most exciting time in my 25-year career at Apple. to be building products and services. There are so many opportunities before us, and I could not be more optimistic about what is to come. For now, let me simply say I am deeply grateful to Tim, to the executive team, and to everyone at Apple, and I look forward to all of the important work ahead,” Ternus added, before passing the call back to Cook.
Both moves happen on the same day. Cook becomes executive chairman September 1, and Ternus takes over as CEO.
Cook has done an incredible job growing Apple for investors. Besides Apple Silicon, many Apple fans are still waiting for the next big thing. Will the Ternus era deliver?
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In hindsight, Apple is probably glad they messed up on AI at the beginning and didn’t spend billions like others. Just pay what Google has spent to train its AI.