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At a normal company, people come and go. Top executives leave and move on to other roles and companies. Lower-level employees find a better job and post a “life update” on Threads. It’s a pretty, well, normal thing that happens all the time.
Apple, on the other hand, seems to enjoy a remarkable level of stability in this regard. Obviously, Apple employs a lot of people, and I’m sure a lot of them are looking for a new job at any given time. Many of the people on the iPhone maker’s leadership page, however, have been there for a decade or more. Turnover at the top—with a few exceptions—is rare.
Partly that’s because the company’s history is one long case study in slow, deliberate succession. When Steve Jobs handed the CEO role to Cook in 2011, it wasn’t a surprise to anyone inside the company. The groundwork had been laid for years, and Cook had already stepped in as interim CEO once before.
Now, however, we’ve seen a handful of departures over the past few weeks, and some see it as a sign that there’s something wrong. First, there were reports that Tim Cook plans to step down in early 2026. Then, Jeff Williams, who had been Chief Operating Officer since 2015, retired. Alan Dye, the head of human interface design, left for Meta. John Giannandrea is leaving, as are Lisa Jackson and Kate Adams. And, former CFO, Luca Maestri, retired at the beginning of 2025.
Then there were the rumors that Apple’s chip chief, Johnny Srouji, was looking to exit, though it seems that reporting may have been premature. Srouji told his staff he wasn’t “planning to leave any time soon,” but someone gave the idea to Bloomberg, who reported that he had been in conversations about going elsewhere.
Even if Srouji isn’t going anywhere, the collective exodus is hard to ignore. After all, if that many people are leaving, something must be up, right?
Maybe. On the other hand, the fact that a number of people are leaving doesn’t mean there’s something wrong. I’d argue it’s actually pretty normal. In fact, I think it makes perfect sense, especially if it’s true that Cook is planning to retire in the next 12 to 18 months. In that case, this looks like the change is probably the result of a CEO saying to everyone working for him that this is the time to get out if you’re going to go.
The extended deadline for the 2026 Inc. Regionals Awards is Friday, December 19, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply now.
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Jason Aten
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