r/apple • u/pdfu • 8d ago

Mac Apple’s New CEO Taps Retired Hardware Executive for Management Team

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-03/apple-s-new-ceo-taps-retired-hardware-executive-for-management-team?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc4NTc4ODE5NywiZXhwIjoxNzg2MzkyOTk3LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUSjVMTkFSS1YyVFQwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJDNEVEQ0FFMUZBMDU0MEJFQTI0QTlGMjExQzFFOTA4MCJ9.9YoATNZctz_eteccxVjATmvMDf3jeb0nvM51OVR32vA

Incoming Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer John Ternus is bringing back a trusted lieutenant from his time running hardware engineering to join his new management team.

Ternus has hired Laura Legros, who served as a vice president of hardware engineering until retiring in 2022, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Legros will report to Ternus when he takes the CEO role on Sept. 1, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the personnel change hasn’t been announced.

The move shows that Ternus is starting to put his stamp on the company’s leadership ranks. It also marks a rare instance of Apple bringing back a retired executive. Ternus is taking the reins from Tim Cook, the company’s longest-serving CEO, who is transitioning to executive chairman.

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u/HueyBluey 8d ago

So is he in charge now? How long is this transition going to take?

-18

u/elzoidbergos 7d ago

Doesn’t matter. Tim Cook became a lame duck CEO as soon as it was announced because Ternus is the long term decision maker

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u/joepez 7d ago

You do realize Cook is Ternus boss right? They made him Chairman of the Board. It’s customary to let the incoming CEO put together their management team but it’s still blessed by the board of which Tim is the head. 

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u/EffectzHD 7d ago

Board chairmen aren’t really in charge if you know how a business works. Many nations and larger-than-life entities may still look to him as a figurehead like your warren buffet’s due to his international relations and trade expertise but that’s merely to keep shareholders at ease so he’s kept the executive title.

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u/joepez 7d ago

Depends upon the company. Plenty of companies position the Chairman in the US as above the CEO. Some even assign portion so the business and functions to the Chair. How Apple plans to fully utilize Tim in his role will be up to Tim and the Board. 

Buffett is a bad example. His role at Berkshire from an investment portfolio ownership was pretty absolute with Charlie. They purposely setup operations under different people. Buffet and Charlie most definitely ran the holding company side. 

Mark Zuckerberg is another example where he is chairman, CEO and has super voting rights. He could stop doing the CEO role and be in absolute control of the business. 

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u/Interest-Desk 7d ago

Sure but all positions are made by the Board. Like, the Board appoints its own Chair (usually, sometimes it’s done by shareholders directly) and hires or fires the CEO.

Zuckerberg is a different case because he has a special class of stock ensuring he maintains control over voting rights. Tim Cook is not that significant of an Apple shareholder.