Apple has stepped up its efforts to lay down a foundation for current CEO Tim Cook to step down “as soon as next year,” according to the Financial Times.
The report claims the Cupertino company’s board of directors and senior executives have “recently intensified preparations for Cook to hand over the reins.”
Apple is unlikely to name a new CEO before its releases its next earnings report in late January, says the report. It went on to says that an announcement early in the year would allow for a smooth transition, hopefully completed ahead of Apple’s annual developers conference (WWDC) in June, as well as the iPhone event in September.
The report does stress that no final decisions have been made and the timing of things could change.
Cook has ruled the roost at Apple’s since August 2011. He turned 65 this year. While having reached the US average age of retirement, he has yet to publicly announce any plans to step down.
As for who will replace Cook as Apple CEO, the company’s Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, John Ternus, is widely viewed as Cook’s most likely successor when the time comes for Cook to step down.
Ternus, who joined Apple in 2001, is 50 years old, making him one of Apple’s younger senior executives, meaning he could potentially have a lengthy reign as CEO.
Not everyone believes that Tim Cook is so ready to resign, as in an an X post today, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said, “I don’t get the sense anything is imminent as the [Financial Times] is claiming.”
In any case, the report assured readers that Tim Cook’s possible upcoming retirement is not related to the company’s current performance. Apple’s stock price is near its all-time high, as it reported record revenue in the September quarter, and the company has also predicted that its current December quarter will be the best quarter in its history.