Apple CEO Tim Cook (photo: David Paul Morris — Bloomberg/Getty Images)
As we step into 2026, a historic leadership transition is unfolding at three of America’s most pivotal corporate giants. We’re talking about major shifts at the helm of none other than Apple, Walmart, and Berkshire Hathaway.
Observers are postulating that Apple senior vice president of hardware engineering John Ternus, 50, who’s been with the company for 25 years, will ultimately take over the reins from Cook.
On Feb. 1, Doug McMillon, CEO of Walmart since Feb. 1, 2014, will be handing the reins to John Furner, president and CEO of Walmart U.S. (They have succession down to the day at Walmart!) Meanwhile, Warren Buffett, who has been running Berkshire Hathaway forever (actually only since 1965—slightly shorter than forever) will be turning over his responsibilities to Greg Abel, currently vice chairman of noninsurance operations, on New Year’s Day.
As for Apple’s Tim Cook, who has been CEO since Aug. 24, 2011, he isn’t going anywhere—yet. But with the announced departure of some key Cook deputies—Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams, general counsel Kate Adams, and head of government affairs Lisa Jackson, part of a continuum in a multiyear switching out of 60-plus-year-old top executives, or as an insider calls it, “maintaining the magic”—the 14½-year Cook era at Apple looks to be winding down.
There are a few connections among them, especially Berkshire’s home-run investment in Apple, probably Buffett’s best stock investment ever in dollar terms, generating some $100 billion in pretax profits and with tens of billions more still held in a roughly $35 billion investment. This is the case, even though one could argue that Berkshire sold much of its Apple stock too soon, missing a strong recent run-up.
Speaking of missing an opportunity, Buffett once owned Walmart but sold his stake beginning in 2015, in the early days of McMillon’s tenure. This is ironic since Buffett has chastised himself for missing Walmart early on. Make that later on, too, Warren.
Simply put, these three CEOs have been wealth-creation beasts. And it isn’t just Buffett, who’s actually not No. 1 by a long shot. That honor goes to Tim Cook, who, when he became CEO, presided over a company with a mere $350 billion in market capitalization. Today, it’s $4.1 trillion — or some $3.75 trillion more. Yes, you can argue that much of this was selling products that Steve Jobs developed, but talk about taking an operation to a whole other level.
MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote earlier this month,”Hopefully, the days of a COO masquerading as an Apple CEO are finally drawing nigh. Apple deserves a visionary leader who can once again drive relentless, world-changing product innovation.”
Note that nearly one year ago, shares of Apple hit $260.10 (Dec. 26). Apple closed today at $273.67, a gain of just $13.57; a relatively paltry 5.22% over the past 12 months.
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