John Ternus officially became Apple’s CEO today and sent his first memo to employees, praising Tim Cook, thanking staff for their work, and expressing excitement about the company’s near-term launch and longer-term product plans.
John Ternus’ first memo
Ternus opened his note to employees on his first day as CEO with thanks and praise for Cook and a look ahead. His memo read in full:
“Team, Today, on my first day as CEO, I just wanted to send a quick note to thank everyone for the warm wishes. I also want to extend my deep appreciation to Tim for sharing so much of his knowledge and experience during this transition, and more importantly, for everything he contributed to Apple over the years. We’re so lucky to have had a CEO who led with his values and with such decency and humanity. We are all better for it, and I’m so grateful he’ll be our executive chairman. I’m honored to be stepping into this role at what is truly the greatest company in the world, and I am so excited about everything we have in store. We have a huge launch next week that’s going to be phenomenal. Thanks for everything you’ve all done to make it possible. I’m just as excited about what lies beyond that, including the incredible products already in the works and the ones we haven’t even imagined yet that we’ll dream up and create together. There’s no team in the world I’d rather build the future with. More to come. In the meantime, thanks for your excellent work! John”
Leadership changes and context
Ternus joined Apple in 2001 and was senior vice president of Hardware Engineering before becoming CEO, bringing a product-focused background in contrast to Tim Cook’s operations background. Apple’s leadership team has been reorganizing during the transition, and the full effect of those changes is expected to play out over the next several years.
Among the announced shifts, Johny Srouji is now Apple’s chief hardware officer and has taken over the Hardware Engineering team that Ternus previously led. Former engineering VP and Ternus lieutenant Laura Legros is returning to Apple, and the product design team was restructured.
On his last day as CEO, Cook told employees he took “enormous comfort” in handing leadership of Apple to “someone as brilliant and wonderful and capable as John.” Ternus has appeared on stage at Apple events before, and the September 9 “Surprise and Shine” iPhone event will be his first onstage appearance as Apple CEO.
