Tim Cook said goodbye to Apple employees on his last day as CEO with a message in which nostalgia for closing a stage is mixed with a vindication of the culture that, in his opinion, explains the company’s success. The executive assures that he will miss leading Apple and accompanying the team on a day-to-day basis, although he faces the decision calmly and says he feels a “huge consolation” by leaving the leadership in the hands of John Ternus.

Cook, who is not leaving Apple and will continue to be linked to the company as Executive President, has taken advantage of his farewell to particularly strongly support his successor. Consider Ternus a person “brilliant, wonderful and capable” and assures that few people understand as he does what it takes to develop “products that change the world.”

The replacement places a profile closely linked to the product at the head of Apple. Until now Senior Vice President of hardware engineering, Ternus has led the team responsible for this area across the company’s entire range of devices and has been behind recent launches such as the ultra-thin iPhone Air, the lower-priced MacBook Neo or the AirPods with functionalities related to hearing health.
His appointment thus points to the weight that hardware and product execution could maintain in Apple’s next stage, also at a time when artificial intelligence is increasing the demands on chips, computers and devices capable of executing these technologies.

“Culture triumphs over everything”

But Cook has dedicated very little space in his farewell to anticipating the strategy that Apple will follow under its new leadership. Instead, he has focused the message on what he considers most difficult to reflect in financial results or annual reports: the company’s culture.
“This place shows that culture triumphs over everything”he points out in the letter. For Cook, Apple employees share the conviction that what they build matters and that they have “the opportunity and responsibility to leave the world better than we found it.”

The manager considers that this idea transcends the company itself. Apple can help feed it, he maintains, but it is a purpose that was already present in people before joining the organization and that explains, precisely, why they decided to do so.

Cook also recovers one of Steve Jobs’ best-known expressions: the aspiration to leave a “footprint in the universe”. In his opinion, Apple has been able to do this thanks to what its professionals are and believe, but also to what they value and their way of observing the world.
Thus, the letter also has a marked component of gratitude. Cook downplays his own achievements and directly points to the team as responsible for what was achieved during his time: “Whatever can be said about my success, I know it is all due to you.”writes. He assures that the employees have brought out the best in him and that he has never worked with such a team of people before.

It also vindicates the collective dimension of the company. In his opinion, Apple has managed to build something that none of its members could have imagined or achieved individually because its professionals push each other and manage to bring out the best in each other. This reflection connects with one of the ideas that underpin the entire farewell: for Cook, Apple’s strength does not lie solely in the products it manufactures, but in the culture from which they are created.

Cook acknowledges that he will miss the job as CEO “in ways I can barely begin to imagine” and, especially, leading the team and accompanying them every step of the way. However, he claims to feel completely at peace with the decision and to trust whoever picks up the witness. “Few people understand what it takes to create world-changing products like John.”he says, before stating that he could not be more excited about his leadership.

In a publication also published on the occasion of his last day as CEO, Cook thanked the Apple community for its support and pointed out that, although his position changes, the affection he feels for it will not: “My gratitude is endless and I am excited for the next chapter.”

This is Tim Cook’s complete farewell letter to Apple employees, translated into Spanish:

Equipment:

Today is my last day as CEO of Apple. It’s a moment that I always knew would come one day, and yet I still find it hard to believe that it has arrived and that I am writing these words. I love this company and the team behind it, and I couldn’t let this day pass without writing to you to tell you how grateful I am for all the expressions of affection that you have sent me, for the way in which you have given the best of yourselves every day and, above all, for the privilege of a lifetime that it has meant to be your leader.

The truth is, whatever can be said about my success, I know it’s all because of you. You have brought out the best in me. In my entire life I have never seen or been part of such an extraordinary team of people, and every day I continue to find new examples of it.

There is something truly special about Apple. What I am most proud of is precisely what no annual report could reflect. This place shows that culture triumphs over everything. We share the conviction that what we build matters and that we have both the opportunity and the responsibility to leave the world better than we found it. That purpose is part of what makes this place extraordinary. Apple helps cultivate it, but I think it was already living inside each of you long before you got here. It’s what brought you to this company and what continues to drive the work you do every day.

Together we have created something far greater than any of us could have imagined or achieved separately. And that is the secret of our success. We bring out the best in each other. We help each other grow. We have made it possible to leave our “mark on the universe,” as Steve once described it, by who we are and by what we believe in, by what we value and by the way we see the world. How lucky we are. How lucky I am.

As you know, I am not leaving Apple. But I do leave a position that I have loved deeply. I will miss this job in ways I can only begin to imagine, although I am completely at peace with my decision. I will miss leading you and being with you every step, while taking great comfort in leaving the helm in the hands of someone as brilliant, wonderful, and capable as John. Few people understand what it takes to create world-changing products like John, and I couldn’t be more excited about his leadership.

I hope you know how much I appreciate you and what an honor it has been to be your CEO. Above all, I hope that you continue to feel proud to be part of this extraordinary place we call Apple and that you always give it your best. When we give ourselves fully to this work, caring for each other and the people we work for, there is no limit to the profound difference we can make.

I look forward to seeing you in my new role at Apple Park and around the world.

With everything I have and everything I am, always.

Your,
Tim