On Tuesday, September 1, John Ternus officially became chief executive officer of Apple, closing out Tim Cook's fifteen-year tenure. Cook stays on as executive chairman of the board. The succession, announced in April, was approved unanimously by the board. Ternus, a mechanical engineer who joined Apple's product design team in 2001 and has led hardware engineering as senior vice president since 2021, holds a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Pennsylvania. His first public test comes as soon as September 9, with Apple's annual product event.
The numbers behind the handover
The balance sheet Cook leaves behind is among the heaviest ever handed from one CEO to another.
- Market capitalization rose from roughly $350 billion in 2011 to about $4.6 trillion today: about thirteenfold, which on average works out to $32 million of value created every hour for fifteen straight years.
- Annual revenue climbed from $108 billion to $416 billion in fiscal 2025, nearly fourfold.
- Net income reached $112 billion, more than four times the 2011 figure.
- Apple was the first US-listed company to be worth $1 trillion (2018), crossed $4 trillion in October 2025 and briefly overtook Nvidia for the top spot in July 2026.
- Services now generate more than $100 billion a year, the equivalent of a Fortune 40 company; wearables added $35 billion in fiscal 2025.
- According to a company filing, Ternus will earn a $3 million salary with an equity award worth a targeted $55 million starting in 2027; Cook will receive $2 million plus $45 million in restricted stock units.
The multiple: how much expectations weigh
There is one detail that says more about Ternus's inheritance than any ceremony. Apple's market value grew about thirteenfold over Cook's tenure; revenue, nearly fourfold. The difference does not come from the accounts. It comes from the multiple: how many years of earnings the market is willing to pay for to own the stock. A sizable chunk of Apple's price, in other words, reflects not what the company sells today but what investors expect tomorrow. And expectations move far faster than balance sheets: they inflate or deflate in days, while revenue is built over years. That, more than any line item, is the real asset Ternus is handed.
