Tim Cook will step down as Apple chief executive

Apple said Tim Cook will step down as chief executive officer. John Ternus, senior vice president of hardware engineering, will take the role. The change takes effect on September 1. The company announced the succession on April 20.

A chief executive officer is the senior manager of a company, responsible for its overall direction. Stepping down means Cook is leaving that job, not that the company is being sold. A senior vice president of hardware engineering leads the teams that design the physical products. Ternus moves from that post into the top job.

Apple is the American technology company known for its phones, computers, and other devices. Cook has been its chief executive. The announcement names his successor and the date the new tenure starts. It does not say what Cook will do after September 1, and it does not describe a search that considered other candidates.

Hardware engineering is the part of the company that builds the devices customers hold, as distinct from software or services. Choosing that executive as the next chief executive puts a product-hardware leader in the office. The report does not list Ternus's age, his earlier jobs, or a strategy speech. The facts are the two names, the two roles, and the date.

September 1 is later in the year than the April announcement, so the succession is planned rather than immediate. Until that date, the announcement itself is the news. Investors and employees were given a named successor instead of an open-ended departure. No financial terms of either man's contract are included.

Tim Cook's time as Apple's chief executive is set to end on September 1. John Ternus, now head of hardware engineering, is to succeed him. Apple announced the plan on April 20. The company did not attach further conditions in the account of the change.