Tim Cook has officially signed off as Apple’s CEO, bringing an end to one of the longest and most consequential leadership runs in the company’s history.

Cook’s final day in the role came on August 31, ahead of John Ternus taking over as CEO on September 1. Rather than ending his tenure with the kind of corporate statement packed with financial figures and carefully worded talking points, Cook chose something much more personal: a message to Apple employees reflecting on what the company and its people have meant to him.

The tone of the note is strikingly different from the way Cook’s 15 years at the top are usually discussed. There is no long list of products, revenue milestones or stock-market records. Instead, Cook spends most of his message talking about Apple’s culture, the people he worked with and the responsibility he believes comes with building products used by billions of people.

“Today is my last day as CEO of Apple,” Cook wrote at the beginning of the message, acknowledging that although he always knew the day would arrive, it was still difficult to believe it had finally come.

He went on to thank employees for the affection they had shown him and for the work they had continued to do every day, describing serving as Apple’s leader as a privilege of a lifetime. The message quickly became less about Cook himself, though, and more about the people he believes made his tenure possible.

“The truth is, whatever there is to say about my success, I know it is all because of you,” Cook told employees.

That sentiment fits the way Cook has generally approached his time at Apple. He inherited the CEO position from Steve Jobs in 2011, a moment that could easily have become an impossible comparison between two very different leaders. Jobs was Apple’s famous product visionary and public face. Cook came from a very different background, with his reputation built around operations, supply-chain management and execution.

Fifteen years later, the comparison is less useful than it once was.

Cook did not try to become another Steve Jobs. Instead, he turned Apple into a considerably larger and more diversified company while maintaining the basic philosophy that products should be tightly integrated and easy for customers to use.

Apple itself says Cook oversaw the introduction of products including the Apple Watch, AirPods and Apple Vision Pro, while also expanding services such as iCloud, Apple Pay, Apple Music and Apple TV. During his tenure, Apple grew its active installed base to more than 2.5 billion devices, while its Services business became a more than $100 billion annual business.

The financial transformation is even harder to ignore. When Cook took over in August 2011, Apple had a market value of roughly $350 billion. By the end of his tenure, the company was worth several trillion dollars, at times surpassing a $5 trillion market capitalization. Apple’s annual revenue also grew from roughly $108 billion in 2011 to $416 billion in fiscal 2025.

But Cook’s final message barely dwells on any of that.

Instead, he argues that Apple’s most important achievements are the things that cannot easily be captured in an annual report. He describes the company’s culture as something special and says its employees share a belief that the products they build matter and that they have a responsibility to leave the world better than they found it.

It is a particularly revealing choice of emphasis from a CEO whose tenure is so often measured through numbers.

Cook also invoked one of Steve Jobs’ most familiar ideas: making a “dent in the universe.” For Cook, that idea is less about any individual executive and more about what happens when people with a shared purpose work together.

That is ultimately how Cook frames his own legacy. Not as something he created alone, but as something Apple’s employees built collectively.

And then comes the part that makes the message feel less like a goodbye than a change of chapter.

Cook made clear that he is not actually leaving Apple.

“As you know, I am not leaving Apple,” he wrote, while acknowledging that he is stepping away from a role he has loved deeply.

Cook has moved into the newly created role of executive chairman, meaning his relationship with Apple is continuing even though he is no longer running the company day to day. Apple announced the transition in April after what it described as a long-term succession-planning process approved unanimously by its board. Cook was expected to remain involved in areas including engagement with policymakers around the world.

That makes this transition rather different from the usual CEO farewell.

Cook is leaving the chief executive’s office, but he is not walking away from Apple Park. He is also leaving the company in the hands of someone he clearly trusts.

His successor, John Ternus, has spent more than two decades at Apple and most recently served as senior vice president of Hardware Engineering. Apple says Ternus has been involved in major hardware development and has pushed work involving product durability, recycled materials, repairability and other hardware innovations.

Cook’s praise for Ternus in his final message was unusually direct. He said that few people understand what it takes to build products capable of changing the world in the way Ternus does, adding that he could not be more excited about Ternus leading Apple.

That endorsement matters because Ternus now inherits an Apple that is both enormously successful and facing a very different set of challenges from the company Cook inherited.

The biggest question is arguably artificial intelligence. Apple has spent the past couple of years trying to establish its position in the generative AI era, while competitors have moved aggressively with AI assistants, models and new forms of computing. Ternus will also have to navigate Apple’s enormous global supply chain, regulatory pressure and the increasingly complicated economics of producing hardware at Apple’s scale.

At the same time, Apple remains one of the most financially powerful technology companies in the world. Its Services business has become a major recurring-revenue engine; Apple has more than 1.5 billion subscriptions across its services, and the company has expanded far beyond the iPhone-centered business that Cook inherited.

That tension makes the leadership change particularly interesting.

Ternus is not taking over a struggling Apple that needs to be rescued. He is taking over one of the world’s most valuable companies at a point when the expectations surrounding its next era are enormous.

And Cook seems comfortable with that.

His final message does not sound like someone desperately trying to hold on to the job. Instead, it reads like someone who has accepted that his time in the role has reached its natural endpoint and is genuinely looking forward to watching the next chapter unfold.

He admitted that he will miss the work and the experience of leading Apple, but said he remains at peace with the decision. Most importantly, he expressed confidence in handing the company to Ternus.

That may be the most revealing part of Cook’s farewell.

After 15 years, his final message was not really about Tim Cook.

It was about Apple.

He ended by telling employees how much he appreciated them and encouraging them to remain proud of being part of the company. He also promised that they would continue to see him at Apple Park and around the world in his new role.

So while August 31 marked the end of the Tim Cook CEO era, it was hardly a clean break.

Cook is still around. Apple is still very much the company he helped shape. And the person taking over is someone Cook himself believes understands what Apple is supposed to build.

The difference is that, for the first time since 2011, someone else is now sitting in the CEO’s seat.

Cook’s final message to Apple employees is included below in full, offering a personal look at his final day as CEO and the people and culture he says made his time at Apple so meaningful.

For Cook, though, the final sign-off was less about closing the door than quietly stepping through it.

“Yours, Tim.”

And then, for the first time in 15 years, Apple moved on without Tim Cook as its CEO.

Cook’s full message to Apple employees appears below.

Team,

Today is my last day as CEO of Apple. This is a moment I always knew would come one day, and yet it is still hard to believe it has arrived and I am writing these words. I love this company and the team behind it, and I couldn’t let this day pass without sending a note to you, to tell you how grateful I am for the outpouring of affection you’ve sent my way, for the way you’ve shown up each and every day, and most of all, for the privilege of a lifetime serving as your leader.

The truth is, whatever there is to say about my success, I know it is all because of you. You have brought out the best in me. In all my life, I have never seen or been with such an extraordinary team of people before, and every day I get to see more examples of that.

There is something truly special about Apple. I am most proud of what an annual report could never capture. This place is proof that culture triumphs over everything. We share a belief that what we build matters, and that we have both the opportunity and the responsibility to leave the world better than we found it. That purpose is part of what makes this place extraordinary. Apple helps nurture it, but I believe it lived within each of you long before you arrived here. It is what brought you to this company and what continues to drive the work you do every day. Together, we have created something far greater than any one of us could have imagined or accomplished alone. And that’s the secret to our success. We bring out the best in each other. We lift each other up. We have made it possible to leave our “dent in the universe,” as Steve once described it, because of who we are and what we believe, because of what we value and how we see the world. How fortunate we are. How fortunate I am.

As you know, I am not leaving Apple. But I am stepping away from a role that I have loved deeply. I will miss this work in ways I can only begin to imagine, even as I remain completely at peace with my decision. I will miss leading you and being with you for every step, even as I take enormous comfort in handing the helm to someone as brilliant and wonderful and capable as John. Few people understand what it takes to build products that change the world the way John does and I could not be more excited for his leadership.

I hope you know how much I appreciate you and what an honor it has been to be your CEO. Most of all, I hope you will continue to be proud to be part of this remarkable place we call Apple and always give it your very best. When we bring our whole selves to this work, with care for one another and for the people we serve, there is no limit to the profound difference we can make.

I look forward to seeing you in my new role at Apple Park and around the world.

With all I have and all I am, I am always

Yours,

Tim