Outgoing Apple CEO Tim Cook is currently spending his last day in the big chair and has shared his parting thoughts with staff before handing over to new leader John Ternus.
In a heartfelt memo obtained and shared by Bloomberg, Cook was full of praise for his incoming successor and paid tribute to the culture upheld by the company’s employees during his historic 15-year tenure on top of the generation-defining tech giant.
Here are the five biggest takeaways from Cook’s letter:
John Ternus is a ‘product builder’
Apple’s focus on product isn’t going anywhere. In the new CEO John Ternus, Cook said he was comforted by his replacement’s knowhow in building things. So if you were concerned that Apple may move towards services in the AI era, Cooks words will be reassuring.
He wrote: “I will miss leading you and being with you for every step, even as I take enormous comfort in handing the helm to someone as brilliant and wonderful and capable as John. Few people understand what it takes to build products that change the world the way John does and I could not be more excited for his leadership.”
Ternus is currently the Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering at Apple so it’s logical to expect that focus on physical devices will continue.
“I’m not leaving.”
While this wasn’t intended in the defiant Wolf of Wall Street way, Cook took the opportunity to remind staff he won’t be riding off into the sunset with his stock options. Although he’ll no longer be CEO, he’ll still be playing a very active role in Apple’s future.
“As you know, I am not leaving Apple. But I am stepping away from a role that I have loved deeply,” he said. Later, he added: “I look forward to seeing you in my new role at Apple Park and around the world.”
From September 1 Cook will serve as the executive chairman of Apple’s board of directors, which is likely to require his delicate handling of matters where the tech company’s interests intersect with global policy. Translation? Massaging Trump’s ego so he doesn’t spit the dummy.
The first bit of business? Handling the child-like request for Lake Ontario to be renamed Lake America in Apple Maps after Trump fell out with China. Interior Secretary John Burgum told Fox News (via BBC) that “the president has reached out to Apple directly. I’m sure we may be seeing that change coming up soon.”
Steve Jobs’ DNA still matters at Apple
Tim Cook was handpicked by the late Apple founder and marketing visionary Steve Jobs as his successor. So it was a safe bet Cook would call back to Apple’s beginnings in his own parting words.
He wrote: “Together, we have created something far greater than any one of us could have imagined or accomplished alone. And that’s the secret to our success. We bring out the best in each other. We lift each other up. We have made it possible to leave our “dent in the universe,” as Steve once described it, because of who we are and what we believe, because of what we value and how we see the world. How fortunate we are. How fortunate I am.”
Jobs died in 2011 after a long battle with a rare form of pancreatic cancer, aged just 56. Cook took their reigns just months earlier.
He gave nothing away about the future
Cook mentioned nothing about the future products Apple may bring to the table or the future challenges it may face. The latter may very much be his remit now. He stayed positive in his address, choosing to praise Apple’s staff for bringing out the best in him and thanking them for their commitment.
He wrote: “This place is proof that culture triumphs over everything. We share a belief that what we build matters and that we have both the opportunity and the responsibility to leave the world better than we found it. That purpose is part of what makes this place extraordinary. Apple helps nurture it, but I believe it lived within each of you long before you arrived here. It is what brought you to this company and what continues to drive the work you do every day.”
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