Apple’s John Ternus will run one of the most powerful companies in the world. work is a minefield

During his 15-year reign as Apple’s top banana, Tim Cook became instantly recognizable, powerful beyond imagination, and extremely wealthy. Most estimates peg Cook’s current net worth at about $3 billion, assets he amassed largely through performance-based stock awards as Apple’s market capitalization has grown more than 11-fold on his watch to about $4 trillion.

But the job comes with a lot of baggage, too. Cook has also had to navigate two Trump administrations and one Biden administration — each with its own stance on Big Tech, China and regulation. Cook also took on 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 drew a lot of unwanted attention from human rights groups. Last but not least, Cook watched the company’s most ambitious hardware bet — the Vision Pro headphones — bombard consumers. This is to say nothing of artificial intelligence, where the outcome is still unknown. Incoming CEO John Ternus inherits it all.

Here’s a walk through some of Cook’s biggest battles over the years.

Surely we all remember that 2016 FBI encryption race? After a mass shooting at a holiday gathering in San Bernardino, California, the FBI asked Apple to help unlock the gunman’s iPhone. Cook refused, arguing that encryption was the only effective countermeasure against exposing people’s personal data and that forcing it to break would set a dangerous precedent. The standoff eventually ended when the FBI found another way, but it cemented Apple’s identity as a privacy company and created years of tension with governments around the world. Ternus will inherit this identity and the obligations that come with it.

The App Store’s antitrust war was no walk in the park for Cook either. Epic Games sued Apple in federal court for requiring apps to use Apple’s in-app payment system and taking a 30% cut of its sales (and when the judge pressed Cook on why users couldn’t just pay developers directly at lower prices, his answers did little to deflect her skepticism). Apple largely prevailed in 2021, with the court refusing to label it a monopoly but ordered to allow developers to link to external payment options. It narrowly complied, charging a 27% commission on those outside purchases (some discount!) and the courts held it in contempt. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that decision in late 2025, and after rejecting a request for a retrial last month, Apple is now preparing to petition the Supreme Court, which had already refused to hear its previous appeal. A lower court has yet to determine the fee Apple can actually charge.

The Epic saga is just one front in a much wider antitrust war. The US Department of Justice sued Apple in March 2024, accusing it of illegally dominating the smartphone market by restricting third-party app and device developers — think competing smartwatches, digital wallets and messaging services — in ways that make it harder for users to switch away from the iPhone. A federal judge rejected Apple’s motion to dismiss that case, meaning it could be litigated for years. And just this week, Apple revealed it faces a potential $38 billion fine in India, where regulators found it guilty of abusing its dominant position in the app market and said Apple refused to hand over required financials — a case complicated by the fact that Apple’s market share in India is still relatively modest at about 9%, giving it an unusual view. angle to challenge the findings. Ternus inherits this fight in the middle, with its App Store revenue model under immediate legal threat.

China has also been a constant and increasingly awkward balancing act. Cook built Apple’s manufacturing business around Chinese supply chains, making the company deeply dependent on a country whose government has become more dynamic and less predictable over time. It also made unpleasant concessions to operate in the Chinese market — notably removing VPN apps from the Chinese App Store and storing Chinese users’ iCloud data on state-controlled servers. Cook proved adept during Trump’s first term at insulating Apple from tariffs and trade war risks, in part by cultivating a personal relationship with Trump — who remarked after the news of Cook’s retirement that “an incredible guy!” Apple has already indicated that Cook will continue to help Ternus negotiate the geopolitical terrain as executive chairman — an acknowledgment that these relationships are difficult and that Cook’s institutional knowledge remains extremely valuable.

However, AI is perhaps the most immediate and unresolved challenge facing Ternus. Apple’s head of artificial intelligence John Giannandrea is officially leaving the company this month after numerous delays to the launch of a more AI-capable Siri. Instead of relying solely on its own models, Apple has turned to both Google’s Gemini and OpenAI’s ChatGPT to power some Apple Intelligence features. Longtime market research analyst Bob O’Donnell he told Reuters On Monday, Ternus’ biggest challenge will likely be “getting a better AI story and offering together that relies more on Apple’s capabilities and less on third parties,” though some argued the company will look smarter in hindsight by waiting out the expensive competition currently playing out among today’s biggest AI parts.

Last but not least, executive turnover at Apple is generally less talked about but meaningful. Ternus inherits a largely revamped leadership team following the recent departures of several other Apple executives over the past year, including its longtime COO, general counseland head of user interface design. It’s a challenge and an opportunity that will require him to put his own stamp on things relatively quickly.

The common thread connecting most of these challenges is that Cook’s greatest skill has been his ability to manage complex relationships with governments and partners while keeping the business humming. Whether Ternus has the same ability, or whether Cook’s continued presence as executive chairman is meant to fill any gaps there, may prove to be one of the more interesting questions of the transition.

A far scarier question hanging over Ternus’ tenure is whether the world that made Apple the most valuable company on the planet could really be coming to an end. Many industry observers believe that AI agents will become the primary way people interact with services, making the App Store and its 30% decline a distant memory. Coupled with the possibility of compelling new hardware eroding the iPhone’s grip on our lives, like what OpenAI has in the works, and Ternus could find itself navigating much more than complex relationships and litigation.