Tim Cook Sat Out the AI Race — Will the New CEO Pay the Price?

**SPEAKER_1** (0:01)
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Right?

**Ed Elson** (1:31)
Today's number, nine.
That's how many four- and five-star generals have been fired by this administration, almost as many as the 150 years prior. When asked for comment, Secretary Pete Hegseth said he's, quote, trying to be the shepherd. We later reached out to Quentin Tarantino to find out what that meant.

**SPEAKER_1** (1:54)
If money is evil, then that building is hell.

**Ed Elson** (2:02)
Welcome to Prof G Markets. I'm Ed Elson. It is April 22nd. Let's check in on yesterday's market vitals.
The major indices declined as Iran talks stalled around market close. Trump announced the ceasefire was extended indefinitely and the blockade would be maintained. Brent crude rose and treasury yields climbed as Federal Reserve Chair nominee Kevin Warsh testified before the Senate Banking Committee. During the hearing, Warsh called for reforms at the Fed, suggesting he'd make changes to the agency's inflation models and communication style. He also dodged questions about Lisa Cook and the Jerome Powell probe and declined to acknowledge that President Trump lost the 2020 election. Still, regarding Fed independence, he said, quote, The president never asked me to predetermine, commit, fix, decide on any interest rate decision in any of our discussions, nor would I ever agree to do so.
Okay. What else is happening? After 15 years as CEO of Apple, Tim Cook is officially stepping down. During Cook's tenure, Apple's revenue almost quadrupled, and its market value increased by about 3.6 trillion dollars. On September 1st, Cook will be transitioning to the role of executive chairman, and he'll hand the CEO reins to John Ternus, Apple's head of hardware engineering. Ternus has spent 25 years, half his life at the company, overseeing the hardware behind every major Apple product. The transition marks the start of a new era for Apple, with plenty of unanswered questions about what comes next. So, here to discuss what this moment means for Apple and for the future of this company. We are joined by a panel of experts, Patrick McGee, award-winning journalist and author of Apple in China, The Capture of the World's Greatest Company, and also Tripp Mickle, tech reporter for the New York Times and author of After Steve, How Apple Became a Trillion-Dollar Company and Lost Its Soul.
Patrick, Tripp, thank you very much for joining us on Prof G Markets. So Cook is departing, Ternus is taking over. I want to start with a look at Tim Cook and his career. Patrick, I'll start with you. Tim was CEO for 15 years. When we look back at this, what will we say about what he did for the company? What will the history books of business say about his legacy at Apple?

**Patrick McGee** (4:34)
Well, you're already thinking about it the way I think about it. I mean, look, I think if you're looking at it from 2026, it is hard to fault this guy. As you said, $3.6 trillion added to Apple's market cap. He clearly fulfilled whatever tasks Steve Jobs set him out to do. His role was not necessarily to come up with breakthrough products. It was to iterate what Steve Jobs had already come up with on a global scale.
He squeezed every penny that was really available in the supply chain. He built up services, he put Apple into new areas like Apple TV and a host of things like that. He's getting $20 billion of profit per year just out of the Google relationship, just using the user base in Apple's favor.
All kinds of things, but what you're pointing to is, where will we see this 10 years from now? That to me is the most interesting question because Ben Thompson of trajectory has put this with a nice metaphor. He laid time bombs for the next CEO, which is to say, the China risk could really blow up and we can go into more detail there, and he's not invested really much at all into data centers for AI. That might be the right move, but if it turns out to be the wrong move, Apple would be years behind the companies that people have been fawning over the last few years with appropriate acclaim.