With the surprise retirement of Apple COO Jeff Williams on Tuesday, all bets are off concerning the next CEO of Apple.
Williams, a 27-year Apple veteran, was widely regarded as the likely next CEO of Apple when Tim Cook eventually steps down.
But with Williams out of the running, Apple senior vice presidents John Ternus or Craig Federighi are now seen as the most probable candidates for the top spot.
But I think it could be someone else entirely — and it’s a pick I haven’t seen anyone else make.
Here’s who I think might be the next CEO of Apple, and why.
New CEO of Apple: It’s not who you think
In the entire corporate world, there’s perhaps no bigger job than the CEO of Apple, one of the world’s most valuable and influential companies.
Whoever is appointed to head up Apple will instantly become one of the most powerful and influential business executives in the world. Among CEOs, it’s the capo of capos. The choice will be hugely consequential not just to the company itself, but to millions of customers and thousands of other firms. They could very well mold the entire tech industry for the next decade or more.
Who are the top candidates for Apple CEO?
Apple will almost certainly choose an internal candidate as its next CEO. Tim Cook has even said so.
“My job is to prepare several people for the ability to succeed, and I really want the person to come from within Apple,” he told the singer Dua Lipa on her At Your Service podcast last November.
Cook, a master of secrecy, dropped no hints whatsoever about potential candidates, but the two frontrunners are:
- John Ternus, Senior Vice President Hardware Engineering. Ternus is currently the public favorite, and was named the most likely to be CEO in a high-profile Bloomberg article. He’s already in charge of most of Apple’s key hardware, including the iPhone, Apple’s biggest cash cow. His main advantages are youth (he’s not yet 50), proven charisma, and a solid, CEO-ready chin.
- Craig Federighi, Senior Vice President Software Engineering. As Apple’s top software executive, Federighi also has a high public profile, and has helmed scores of Apple’s splashy demos. Federighi also oversees a hugely important product portfolio and although older than Ternus, he has perfect CEO hair.
Other candidates from Apple’s current executive team include the new COO Sabih Khan, who just took over from Williams; Senior Vice President Services Eddy Cue; Senior Vice President Worldwide Marketing Greg “Joz” Joswiak; and maybe Vice President Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives Lisa Jackson. But I think all of these candidates are unlikely.
There’s also little chance Apple will tap an outsider for the role. The last time that happened (Gil Amelio), it was a disaster. The company has very singular ways of operating (it’s a distinctly functional organization) and has spent years developing an internal management-training program, Apple University, which nurtures talent in the ranks.
As Jobs nurtured Cook; Cook is nurturing his own replacement
Ternus is a very capable and charismatic public speaker, and has enjoyed a meteoric career at Apple, and is certainly a contender.
But I think most pundits are making the same mistake they made when Steve Jobs died.
In the wake of Jobs’ death, a lot of Apple watchers picked Jony Ive as Jobs’ most likely successor. This was based mostly on Ive’s high public profile. Ive was almost always featured at Apple’s product launch events; the Jony Ive “white room” design videos became almost a cliche. And, of course, Ive played a leading role in developing these products. He’s the same kind of product visionary as Steve Jobs, and seemed like a good fit.
But of course, Jobs instead recommended Tim Cook, who had a very low public profile at the time and hadn’t been featured in any product events or videos.
What the pundits should have been looking at was how Jobs appeared to be grooming Cook to be CEO in plain sight. Jobs tapped Cook for ever more demanding roles at the company, steadily elevating him higher up the corporate ladder.
Cook is doing the same thing with one of his long-time lieutenants: Deirdre O’Brien, a thrity-year Apple veteran, who has held a couple of the same positions that Cook held under Jobs, and seems to be Cook’s go-to when there’s a tricky executive position to fill.
Why Deirdre O’Brien may be Apple’s next CEO
Photo: Apple
In the years before Jobs died, he often turned to Cook to fill important jobs — and now Tim Cook is doing the same thing with Deirdre O’Brien.
Cook started at Apple in 1998 as Senior Vice President of Worldwide Operations. In 2002, his duties were expanded to include sales as well as operations (he was named Executive Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Operations); and again in 2005, when he also added support to his portfolio: he became Chief Operating Officer, overseeing operations, sales and support. Cook become CEO in 2011.
In hindsight, it looks like Jobs was grooming Cook for the CEO role by giving him multiple roles to familiarize himself with many aspects of the company. And of course, Cook filled in for Jobs as temporary CEO three times when Jobs was on medical leave in 2004, 2009 and 2011.
Cook may be doing something similar with O’Brien.
Who is Deirdre O’Brien?
Photo: Apple
O’Brien has worked at Apple for more than 30 years and is one of Cook’s longest-serving and most trusted lieutenants, along with Williams and Kahn.
She joined Apple in 1988 after leaving college at Michigan State University, starting with a job in operations — like Cook — and rising through the ranks to become Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Operations. Sound familiar? It was Cook’s old job.
In 2017, she switched roles to HR, becoming Vice President of People, overseeing Apple’s sprawling HR functions, including Apple University.
When Apple’s former head of retail Angela Arendts stepped down in 2019, Cook put O’Brien in charge of retail in addition to her HR job. She was named Senior Vice President of Retail + People, the role she currently serves. In a press release, Cook praised O’Brien as an “exceptional leader” who deeply understands Apple’s culture and team.
A leading candidate for new CEO of Apple
Like Cook before he took over, O’Brien has a fairly low-profile public persona. She’s appeared in only a couple of product videos and spoken only at a handful of conferences.
O’Brien was mentioned in the Bloomberg report about Apple’s next CEO, but was dismissed as an unlikely candidate.
Perhaps the biggest knock against her is her age. Although it hasn’t been revealed publicly, she’s likely around 60-years-old, only four years younger than Cook. Apple’s board might want someone younger, who is capable of staying in the role for 10 years or more.
I interviewed O’Brien in 2018 for my book about Cook, and tbh, didn’t get very much. I pressed her for personal details or stories about Cook, but she stayed firmly on-script and gave nothing away. She was a very disciplined interviewee.
Most Apple fans would have a hard time recognizing her, but she’s risen high through the ranks, and seems to be one of Cook’s main go-tos when he needs a capable leader to take on a big job.
It would be in line with Cook’s activist CEO modus operandi to name a woman as a successor, especially such a trusted and long-time lieutenant.
O’Brien certainly isn’t a lock as Cook’s successor, but as a dark horse candidate, she has a lot going for her. She should definitely be mentioned as one of the candidates for Apple’s top job.
