Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has now contradicted earlier reporting by Reuters and the Financial Times, disclosing that Apple's incumbent CEO, Tim Cook, is not going away anytime soon, despite the impression given by the recent reports.
Mark Gurman: "Apple CEO Tim Cook isn’t retiring imminently"
As we noted earlier this week, Reuters and the Financial Times have both reported recently that Apple's CEO, Tim Cook, was likely to step down next year after well over a decade at the helm of one of the largest corporate behemoths in the world.
According to the Financial Times, even though Apple's board had already initiated the search for a new CEO, it was unlikely to announce Cook's replacement before Apple's next quarterly earnings announcement, due in January 2026.
Even so, according to the Financial Times, Apple was likely to have a new CEO before its developer conference in June, with the VP of Hardware Engineering, John Ternus, currently being perceived as the favored frontrunner to replace Tim Cook.
Now, however, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has directly contradicted the earlier reporting by Reuters and the Financial Times, noting that "Tim Cook isn't retiring immediately."
According to Gurman, Tim Cook is likely to continue as Apple's CEO at least through the current US Presidency. This means Cook is slated to remain at the helm of the tech giant until at least 2028. Of course, by that time, Cook would have turned 70. Do note that Cook has already surpassed Steve Jobs to become Apple's longest-serving CEO.
Interestingly, Gurman also believes that Ternus would be the most logical choice to replace Tim Cook once he does end up departing.
Apple's talent bleed continues unabated
Meanwhile, Apple appears to be bleeding talent left, right, and center, and not just in the highly competitive AI space. In fact, the tech giant's core iPhone design team is also bleeding talent to Jony Ive's io, which was recently acquired by OpenAI in its quest for an "iPhone Killer" device, to be packaged in a screenless, pocket-sized form factor.
According to Gurman, OpenAI has hired around 40 Apple engineers in the last month or so alone! Some of these prominent hires from Apple include Matt Theobald, a manufacturing design expert, and Cyrus Daniel Irani, the lead on human interface design.
This comes as Abidur Chowdhury, the designer of the iPhone Air and a rising star within Apple, has also left his cushy job with the Cupertino giant to pursue a stint at an unnamed AI startup.
About the author: Writing is my one incontrovertible passion. Over the past six years, he has authored over 2,200 distinct articles on financial and tech-related topics, spanning nearly 1 million words. And he has been a member of Wcctech mobile team since 2025. As an alumnus of the University of Toronto, Rotman Commerce Program, I bring nuance, in-depth knowledge, and a unique perspective to every topic that I cover. When I'm not writing, I'm traveling the world, exploring hidden confectionaries and restaurants as an aspiring food connoisseur.
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