Just years after wrecking his university’s first and only milling machine, John Ternus was intimidated when he first joined Apple and wasn’t sure he belonged.
John Ternus speaking in 2024 – image credit: University of Pennsylvania engineering school
John Ternus speaking in 2024 – image credit: University of Pennsylvania engineering school
When John Ternus becomes CEO on September 1, 2026, he will have been at Apple for a quarter of a century. Ahead of even the speculation that he would succeed Tim Cook, he gave a speech about how “exhilarating and intimidating” it had felt when he first joined Apple.
“I wasn’t sure I belonged there,” he told students at the University of Pennsylvania’s engineering school in 2024. “The people I met were so smart and so confident, and they knew so much more than me, but I’ll always be grateful that I wasn’t afraid to ask for help when I needed it.”