Apple’s John Ternus will run one of the world’s most powerful companies; the job is a minefield

John Ternus is poised to take the helm at Apple, stepping into the CEO role as Tim Cook retires after a 15-year tenure that saw Apple's market cap soar 11x to roughly $4 trillion. Ternus inherits not just one of the world's most powerful companies, but a complex web of unresolved legal, regulatory, and strategic battles. His immediate in-tray includes navigating the final stages of the Epic Games antitrust lawsuit—where Apple faces court orders to open its App Store payment systems—and a fresh, massive regulatory threat: a potential $38 billion fine from Indian authorities for alleged anti-competitive practices.

Beyond litigation, Ternus must manage Apple's delicate and deeply entrenched relationship with China, where concessions on data storage and app removals have drawn criticism. He also takes charge as Apple's most ambitious new hardware product in years, the Vision Pro headset, has failed to gain significant consumer traction. Perhaps the most pressing strategic question is Apple's position in the AI race, where it has yet to make a defining move. Ternus's leadership will be defined by how he steers the company through these simultaneous crises while protecting its $4 trillion valuation and its foundational identity as a privacy-first tech giant.