Diplomatic duties for Tim Cook after stepping down as Apple CEO

John Ternus ascends the throne - but Cook will stay on to manage tech giant's foreign policy as executive chair Tim Cook becomes Apple's elder statesman Apple announced late on Monday that Tim Cook will step down as CEO but will not leave the iPhone maker. Head of hardware engineering John Ternus will succeed him on 1 September. "I love Apple with all of my being," Cook said in a press release announcing his succession. Cook, 65, who succeeded Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, has been CEO since 2011. With a reputation for operational and supply chain management, he has overseen the global expansion of the company and its steady series of new, updated devices, though he never attained the same visionary status as Jobs.