A recent string of exits from Apple’s executive suites has been accompanied by moves later in the org chart, or even sideways. Some of those moves, including the high-profile departures of dozens of employees to OpenAI and Meta in recent months, were reported by the Wall Street Journal on Friday (Dec. 5), which analyzed LinkedIn profiles.
The employees are engineers and designers who specialize in fields such as audio, watch design, and robotics, the report said.
According to the report, these apps are poised to capitalize on a time when rivals continue to try to capture a greater share of the market, as iPhone and other Apple ecosystem offerings dominate. Apple is transitioning into the era of artificial intelligence (AI), while new devices are arriving that can take full advantage of that technology.
Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, who has also not given any indication that he is stepping down as president, has this year shrugged off the specter of tariffs and brought the company’s stock back to record highs.
Also in the last 18 months, there has been a series of executive changes at Apple,” PYMNTS said Thursday (Dec.
This week alone, the company announced that its general counsel and its vice president for environment, policy, and social initiatives plan to retire; two design leads left for Meta; and its longtime machine learning chief is retiring.
Apple’s former chief operating officer retired, and the company’s chief financial officer role changed hands.
Though the WSJ noted that Cook has given no indication he plans to step down, in November, the Financial Times reported that Apple’s board and senior execs have accelerated contingency planning for Cook to hand the reins to a new chief. It is not because of the company’s performance at this time.” The transition has been long planned, the report added.
Cook took over as CEO in 2011, shortly before Jobs’ death. Apple’s market capitalization has mushroomed from $350 billion in 2011 to north of $4 trillion under Cook’s tenure.
The company was expected to surpass Samsung as the world’s top smartphone seller and maintain that title through 2029, according to global market research firm Counterpoint Research in November. Counterpoint said Apple had benefited from the success of its new iPhone 17 series.
