If 2026 is Tim Cook’s final year as chief executive of Apple, he will be going out in style. The Financial Times’ report that succession planning at Apple is now in high gear makes it seem increasingly likely that the pre-eminent consumer tech company will soon be under new management.
Strong demand for the iPhone 17 lifted Apple’s stock market value past $4tn for a while over the past month. With a strong tailwind from the huge stock buybacks that Cook instigated as one of his first acts as chief, the share price is up 20-fold from the day he took over in 2011.
But, with artificial intelligence threatening the biggest upheaval to the tech world in decades, Cook will also leave huge questions. His successor will need to demonstrate a stronger appetite for risk and a willingness to bet on a new vision for how technology can reshape people’s lives.