In an all-hands meeting with employees on Thursday, Apple CEO Tim Cook briefly touched on the topic of retirement, but he remained coy about his plans.
"I spend a lot of time thinking about who's in the room five years from now, 10 years from now," said Cook, who was taking questions, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. "I am obsessed with this — who's in the room 15 years from now."
A few months ago, the Financial Times reported that Apple was preparing for Cook to step down as soon as early 2026. However, Gurman has previously said that this timeframe "seems unlikely," and that he would be "shocked" if Cook stepped down before the middle of this year. So, Cook may remain CEO through WWDC 2026 at the very least.
Apple's Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, John Ternus, is widely viewed as Cook's most likely successor. Last month, Gurman reported that Cook gave oversight of Apple's design teams to Ternus at the end of last year, and he said this move makes it "crystal clear" that Ternus is the leading CEO candidate.
Whenever it happens, there has been speculation that Cook might become the executive chairman of Apple's board of directors after he steps down as CEO. In this position, Cook would retain some control over company decisions.
Cook has been Apple's CEO since August 2011, and he reached the typical retirement age of 65 last year. It is sounding more and more likely that his time in charge of the company is inching towards the end, but it still remains to be seen if he plans to step down in the coming months or if reports have jumped the gun.
