Ternus vs Cook: $3 Billion Wealth Gap Between Apple's Outgoing and Incoming CEOs

Apple's leadership change has raised an interesting question about who is richer between outgoing CEO Tim Cook and incoming CEO John Ternus. According to Forbes, Cook's net worth is estimated at around $3 billion, while Ternus' wealth is estimated to be in the range of $75 million to $100 million.

Cook has spent 15 years as Apple's CEO, overseeing the company's growth from a roughly $350 billion business into one of the world's most valuable companies. His wealth has largely been built through Apple stock, executive compensation, and long-term equity awards. Cook owns over three million Apple shares and has sold more than $1 billion worth of shares over the years.

As for Ternus, he joined Apple in 2001 as a product design team member and became vice president of hardware engineering in 2013. In 2021, he joined Apple's executive team as senior vice president of hardware engineering. His background makes his elevation to CEO significant, marking a shift from supply-chain and operations leadership to product and engineering leadership.

While Ternus' wealth is much smaller than Cook's, becoming Apple CEO has altered the situation. Apple has set Ternus' target compensation for fiscal 2027 at $58 million, which includes a $3 million salary and a $55 million annual equity award. His new equity package is tied to his continued service and partly to Apple's shareholder returns relative to other S&P 500 companies.