On April 21, Apple announced major personnel changes on Monday. Tim Cook, who has been in charge of Apple for 15 years, announced that he would step down as CEO. Starting from September 1 this year, John Ternus, head of hardware business, will serve as Apple's new CEO. The news of Apple CEO handover caused a sensation. Here are the foreign media’s comments on the matter:
Cook
Bloomberg: Ending "record-breaking" term, Cook hands over to Ternus
Cook will hand over leadership to hardware chief Ternus later this year, ending his 15-year tenure. During this tenure, he built Apple into a technology giant with a market value of US$4 trillion, covering smart watches, video streaming, financial services and other fields.
Reuters: Cook welcomes new role, wins praise from investors
Apple announced that Cook would step down as CEO and become executive chairman. The company's stock price fell less than 1% after the market closed on Monday. Cook's 15-year tenure was recognized by investors. "He is an extremely successful CEO and has performed well when taking over a position that was considered difficult to succeed his predecessor (Jobs). As an investor, I don't want to see him leave the position of CEO." said Rick Meckler, a partner at Cherry Lane Investment Company in the United States.
Wall Street Journal: Cook will be remembered as the value created second only to Jen-Hsun Huang
Cook, 65, will be remembered for creating tremendous corporate value. Particularly in recent years, he has managed to avoid the risk of major disruptions to supply chains while dealing with multiple geopolitical and economic challenges, including the Trump administration's tariffs and COVID-19 lockdowns. During his tenure, Apple's market capitalization increased by nearly $3.7 trillion, creating more value in absolute terms than any other U.S. CEO except Nvidia founder Jensen Huang.
Financial Times: Cook’s appointment as chairman will ease investors’ “diplomatic” concerns
Cook's continued presence on Apple's board is expected to go some way to assuaging investor concerns about the company's ability to influence global policymakers, an area in which Ternus has relatively little experience. Cook has proven himself adept at dealing with the president of the United States. He made a rare appearance on live television in the Oval Office last August and presented Trump with a glass and gold trophy. His diplomacy and massive commitment to U.S. manufacturing helped Apple avoid the threat of a new round of tariffs on its smartphones.
New York Times: Cook ends one of the most successful terms in American business history
Cook's departure marks the end of one of the most successful executive tenures in American business history. During his tenure, Apple's annual profits quadrupled to more than $110 billion, while the company's market value expanded more than tenfold to $4 trillion.
BBC: Hardware executive’s appointment as Apple’s new CEO may bring innovation
Apple appointing a leader with a background in products and hardware may allow the company to escape a persistent criticism during Cook's tenure that Apple is no longer as innovative as it once was. Although Apple's annual profits have quadrupled under Cook and global product sales have expanded significantly, its product lines have remained largely stagnant.
Dipanjan Chatterjee, principal analyst at research firm Forrester, praised the financial stability Cook has brought to Apple but noted that he has not given the company the kind of iPhone-like product that would allow Ternus to continue its success for another 20 years.
Wired: Cook's success lies in financial performance
Cook's achievements at Apple will be closely tied to the company's tremendous financial growth over the past two decades. When he took over as CEO in 2011, Apple's market capitalization was about $350 billion. Today it is more than $4 trillion. Apple said that as of January this year, more than 2.5 billion people around the world were using Apple devices.