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Over his 15-year reign as Apple\u2019s top banana, Tim Cook has become instantly recognizable, powerful beyond imagination, and exceedingly wealthy. Most estimates peg Cook\u2019s current net worth at roughly $3 billion, assets that he amassed largely through performance-based equity awards as Apple\u2019s market cap has grown more than 11x on his watch to roughly $4 trillion.<\/p>\n
But the job comes with plenty of baggage, too. Cook has also had to navigate two Trump administrations and one Biden administration \u2013 each with its own posture toward Big Tech, China, and regulation. Cook also faced down the FBI over encryption, spent years in court defending the App Store against accusations that Apple had turned the iPhone into an illegal monopoly, and made compromises to stay in the Chinese market that attracted a whole lot of unwanted attention from human rights groups. Not last, Cook watched the company\u2019s most ambitious hardware bet \u2014 the Vision Pro headset \u2014 bomb with consumers. That\u2019s saying nothing of AI, where the outcome is still unknown. Incoming CEO John Ternus<\/a> inherits all of it.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a walk through some of Cook\u2019s biggest battles over the years:<\/p>\n Surely we all remember that 2016 FBI encryption fight? After a mass shooting at a holiday gathering in San Bernardino, California, the FBI demanded that Apple help unlock the gunman\u2019s iPhone. Cook refused<\/a>, arguing that encryption was the only meaningful countermeasure against exposing people\u2019s private data and that being forced to break it would set a dangerous precedent. The standoff eventually ended when the FBI found another way in, but it cemented Apple\u2019s identity as a privacy company and set up years of tension with governments around the world. Ternus will inherit that identity and the obligations that come with it.<\/p>\n The App Store antitrust wars<\/a> haven\u2019t been a walk in the park for Cook, either. Epic Games sued Apple in federal court over its requirement that apps use Apple\u2019s in-app payment system and its 30% cut of sales (and when the judge pressed Cook on why users couldn\u2019t simply pay developers directly at lower prices, his answers<\/a> did little to deflect her skepticism). Apple largely prevailed in 2021, with the court declining to call it a monopoly, but it was ordered to allow developers to link to external payment options. It complied in the narrowest sense, charging a 27% commission on those external purchases (some discount!), and courts found it in contempt. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that ruling in late 2025, and after a rehearing request was denied last month, Apple is now preparing to petition the Supreme Court, which had already declined to hear its prior appeal. A lower court still must determine what fee Apple can actually charge. <\/p>\n The Epic saga is just one front in a much wider antitrust war. The U.S. Department of Justice sued Apple in March 2024, accusing it of unlawfully dominating the smartphone market by restricting third-party app and device developers \u2014 think competing smartwatches, digital wallets, and messaging services \u2014 in ways that make it harder for users to switch away from the iPhone. A federal judge denied Apple\u2019s motion to dismiss that case, meaning it could grind through the courts for years. And just this week, Apple revealed it faces a potential $38 billion fine in India, where regulators have found it guilty of abusing its dominant position in the app market and say Apple has refused to hand over required financial data \u2014 a case complicated by the fact that Apple\u2019s market share in India is still relatively modest, around 9%, giving it an unusual angle to contest the findings. Ternus inherits this fight mid-stream, with the App Store\u2019s revenue model under direct judicial threat.<\/p>\n China has been a constant and increasingly uncomfortable balancing act, too. Cook built Apple\u2019s manufacturing operation around Chinese supply chains, making the company deeply dependent on a country whose government grew both more assertive and less predictable over time. He also made uncomfortable concessions to operate in the Chinese market \u2014 most notably removing VPN apps<\/a> from the Chinese App Store and storing Chinese users\u2019 iCloud data on state-controlled servers. Cook proved adept during Trump\u2019s first term at insulating Apple from tariffs and trade war risks, in part by cultivating a personal relationship with Trump \u2013 who remarked upon news of Cook\u2019s retirement that he\u2019s \u201can incredible guy<\/a>!\u201d Apple has already signaled that Cook will continue to help Ternus negotiate geopolitical terrain as executive chairman \u2014 an acknowledgment that these relationships are tricky and that Cook\u2019s institutional knowledge remains highly valuable.<\/p>\n Techcrunch event<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSan Francisco, CA<\/span> Yet AI is perhaps the most immediate and unresolved challenge that Ternus is being handed. Apple\u2019s AI chief, John Giannandrea, formally leaves the company this month following numerous<\/a> delays<\/a> in the rollout of a more capable AI-powered Siri. Rather than relying solely on its own models, Apple has turned to both Google\u2019s Gemini<\/a> and OpenAI\u2019s ChatGPT<\/a> to power some Apple Intelligence features. Longtime market research analyst Bob O\u2019Donnell told Reuters<\/a> on Monday that Ternus\u2019s biggest challenge will likely be \u201cgetting a better AI story and offering together that relies more on Apple\u2019s own capabilities and less on third parties,\u201d though some have argued that the company will look smarter in hindsight for waiting out the expensive competition playing out currently among today\u2019s biggest AI outfits.<\/p>\n Last but not least, executive turnover at Apple more broadly is less discussed but meaningful. Ternus is inheriting a largely rebuilt leadership team following the recent departures of several other Apple execs over the last year of less, including its longtime COO<\/a>, general counsel<\/a>, and head of UI design<\/a>. It\u2019s a challenge and an opportunity that will require him to put his own stamp on things relatively quickly.<\/p>\n The through line connecting most of these challenges is that Cook\u2019s greatest skill was his ability to manage complicated relationships with governments and partners while keeping the business humming. Whether Ternus has that same skill, or Cook\u2019s continued presence as executive chair is meant to cover for any gaps there, may prove among the more interesting questions of the transition.<\/p>\n A much scarier question hanging over Ternus\u2019s tenure is whether the world that made Apple the most valuable company on the planet could actually end. Many industry watchers believe AI agents will become the primary way people interact with services, rendering the App Store and its 30% cut a distant memory. Couple that with the possibility of compelling new hardware that erodes the iPhone\u2019s grip on our lives, like whatever OpenAI has in the works, and Ternus could find himself maneuvering through much more than complex relationships and litigation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission<\/a>. This doesn\u2019t affect our editorial independence.<\/em><\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOctober 13-15, 2026<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n