Why Tim Cook Is Not Leaving Apple Anytime Soon

Forbes

3 days ago

Tim Cook's leadership at Apple remains steady as he continues to be a visionary for products and ... More services.
Recently, one of Tim Cook's right-hand men decided to retire from Apple. Jeff Williams was Apple's CIO, a position that Tim Cook held until he was appointed CEO on August 24, 2011.
In Apple's media release on Jeff Williams' retirement, Tim Cook stated, "Jeff and I have worked alongside each other for as long as I can remember, and Apple wouldn't be what it is without him. He's helped to create one of the most respected global supply chains in the world; launched Apple Watch and overseen its development; architected Apple's health strategy; and led our world-class team of designers with great wisdom, heart, and dedication," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO."
Mr. Williams' reason for leaving was to spend more time with his family and pursue other interests, but I am sure the pressure of the position and long hours also played a role in his decision.
While Apple is a great company to work for, it strives for greatness at all levels, and all employees are under pressure to be at the top of their game all of the time.
Steve Jobs set the tone for this level of pressure when he and his 80-man team were creating the Mac. This was pre-1984, and most of the team worked as much as 90 hours a week to get the Mac to market. In fact, he had sweatshirts printed up that said "90 hours and loving it," and those on the team wore it proudly.
Today, Tim Cook is a much more balanced boss, and while everyone there often works long hours, they also get extra break times, access to company gyms and lounge areas, and a great cafeteria to serve their food needs during the work day.
Although there has been much speculation about Tim Cook retiring and a search for a new CEO in the works, I do not believe that is the case today.
Recently, Mark Gurman of Bloomberg stated the following-
'Whether or not you think Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook should step aside; the reality is clear: He's not leaving anytime soon. Despite being mired in Apple's biggest crisis in years — its artificial intelligence debacle — Cook has staying power akin to other captains of industry. Think of Bob Iger, the 74-year-old CEO of Walt Disney Co., or Jamie Dimon, the 69-year-old leader of JPMorgan Chase & Co. Though Cook turns 65 in November, there's a likely scenario in which he remains in charge of the iPhone maker for at least another half-decade. Moreover, the board doesn't feel the need to make a change... Put simply: No crisis seems big enough to shake the board's faith in Cook.'
I agree with Mr. Gurman that Tim Cook should continue leading Apple in the near future—and there are two key reasons why his leadership remains essential.
One of those reasons goes back to Steve Jobs' years of mentoring Cook to become the eventual CEO of Apple. Friends inside Apple told me in early 2000 that Jobs was so impressed with Cook's role in modernizing Apple manufacturing and his overall grasp of Apple business processes that he began eyeing him as a potential successor.
Not long after Jobs announced his battle with pancreatic cancer in 2004, Jobs began accelerating this tutoring role of Cook to replace him in the future.
It was during this time that Jobs imparted to Tim Cook a long-range vision for Apple, emphasizing his ease-of-use philosophy and the concept of building device platforms that support software developers and create an ecosystem for recurring revenue.
Jobs got the ball rolling with this vision with the iPhone launch in 2007, but it was Cook who extended it to the iPad since Jobs died in 2011 and left the goal of expanding this concept beyond the iPhone.
Cook also extended this vision to the Mac. First, at the hardware level, they create their own chips and then advance the Mac OS and developer system to make the Mac one of the best computers in the market.
That is an ongoing goal, and I think Cook believes there is more of Job's vision to complete before he leaves.
Another reason I'm convinced he'll remain CEO for at least five more years is his long-term vision for XR and smart glasses. Back in 2017, I spoke with Tim Cook at a private event during WWDC—the same year Apple introduced ARKit. When I asked about his outlook on AR, he told me he was not only excited about it but believed it could become Apple's most important product in the future. He also emphasized that the technology would need to take the form of glasses, something people could comfortably wear every day.
In 2023, Apple introduced visionOS, its extended reality operating system. This is the OS that is powering the Vision Pro. Although Cook brought out an VR headset first, it is the AR smart glasses that will keep him at Apple through the end of the decade.
I believe Steve Jobs passed on to Tim Cook a far-reaching vision for Apple's future—one that Cook doesn't yet consider fully realized.
While VR and smart glasses may not have been part of Jobs' original roadmap, they align with his core philosophy: invent new hardware, empower developers to create around it, and build an ecosystem that evolves into a powerful platform for recurring revenue.
Cook still has significant work ahead to carry that vision forward. For that reason, I don't believe he's planning to leave Apple anytime soon. His next chapter may be one of the most defining yet.
Disclosure: Apple subscribes to Creative Strategies research reports along with many other high tech companies around the world.