Tim Cook marked his final day as Apple CEO with an emotional farewell memo to employees.
Cook, 64, sent the message on his last day in the role before handing leadership to John Ternus, the company’s longtime hardware engineering chief. The transition, first announced by Apple last year, sees Cook move to the newly created position of Executive Chairman rather than leave the company entirely.
In the memo, obtained by 9to5Mac, Cook framed the moment as one he always anticipated yet found difficult to fully accept. “Team, Today is my last day as CEO of Apple,” he wrote. “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.”
The outgoing chief executive expressed deep gratitude toward Apple’s workforce, calling service as their leader “the privilege of a lifetime,” He wrote: “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.”
Cook credited Apple’s employees entirely for whatever success he achieved during his tenure. “The truth is, whatever there is to say about my success, I know it is all because of you,” he continued. “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.”
He described Apple as “proof that culture triumphs over everything” and emphasized the shared purpose binding the organization. “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,” Cook added. “That purpose is part of what makes this place extraordinary.”
Cook suggested this drive predated employment at Apple for many workers. “Apple helps nurture it, but I believe it lived within each of you long before you arrived here,” he wrote. “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.”
Invoking Steve Jobs’s famous phrase, Cook noted that employees had “made it possible to leave our ‘dent in the universe.'” He acknowledged stepping away from “a role that I have loved deeply” and admitted he would “miss this work in ways I can only begin to imagine, even as I remain completely at peace with my decision.”
The memo also addressed his future presence at the company. “I look forward to seeing you in my new role at Apple Park and around the world,” Cook wrote, signing off: “With all I have and all I am, I am always…Yours, Tim.”
Cook’s nearly 15-year tenure as CEO followed Jobs’s death in October 2011, during which he steered Apple to become the world’s most valuable company and expanded its product lineup with the Apple Watch and AirPods while growing services revenue dramatically.
Ternus, who joined Apple in 2001, had served as senior vice president of hardware engineering since 2021 and led development of the M1 chip transition and several iPad and Mac redesigns.
Apple’s 50th anniversary arrives next month as the company enters its new leadership era.