Apple Overhaul On The Cards? CEO Tim Cook 'Unlikely' To Leave - Who Can Be The Next Chief?

While 2025 has been a tough year for the tech giant Apple with the firm falling behind in the AI arms race, iPhone sales dwindling and increasing pressure on the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Tim Cook, it is 'unlikely' that he will leave anytime soon.

Why Is Cook Not Leaving?

According to a Bloomberg report, Apple's CEO is not showing any signs of packing his bags soon despite Apple AI stumbling with sluggish innovation and the erosion of its product-focused culture and Cook is still the North Star at the company.

The second-in-command after Cook, COO Jeff Williams is retiring this year, and he is leaving a void in the company's leadership bench as he goes. Since there is no clear successor and there are no signs of a grooming process underway even, Cook's grip on Apple seems likely to last in the next decade too, the report added.

Additionally, the board is stacked with several loyalists like Arthur Levinson and Ronald Sugar and according to the board there is no reason to change what they still believe works.

Further, under Cook's leadership, Apple's market cap increased manifold and its subscription business also took off.

The current stock decline of 16% has also not managed to shake the board's faith in the CEO.

According to the report, the company is in a flux despite all these factors as several key executives are aging out and half of Cook's direct reports are in their 60s.

While Dan Riccio has already exited, CFO Luca Maestri is also transitioning out. The marketing head Greg Joswiak and App Store boss Phil Schiller are also not far behind.

What Is This Overhaul About?

The chief of Services Eddy Cue is also sounding alarms internally, warning that without any change, Apple could also become the next BlackBerry.

According to the report, to address this issue, Apple is slowly overhauling its leadership and Sabih Khan will take over as COO of the company, though he is not seen as CEO material.

Additionally, the new CFO Kevan Parekh is also already in place. But none of these people are apparent heirs, the report said.

Who Can Be The Next Chief?

At present, the frontrunner to succeed Tim Cook is the company's hardware chief John Ternus, who is younger and has spent decades at Apple and carries the tag of being the "product guy," which is an essential trait for the next CEO.

However, Ternus still lacks operational and financial experience, which means that he would need a strong support structure if he took the top job, the report added.

Also Read: Air India AI 171 Crash: Fuel Switch Error Possible Cause? Here's What We Know