John Ternus — the new CEO at Apple — is already becoming more popular than the many other CEOs that the company has had in the past. While Steve Jobs and Tim Cook lead the way, for obvious reasons, Ternus is catching up fast, and I think I know why that is.
Steve Jobs remains the most popular CEO
Samsung recently made an ad for the Galaxy Z Fold 8 where another man named Tim Cook promoted the foldable flagship. This led to a discussion about Apple’s previous CEOs and a poll asking you which one of them was your favorite.
To the surprise of no one, Steve Jobs topped the poll with a whopping 75 percent of votes. Even 15 years after his passing, I suppose his charm and unorthodox approach to being a CEO are still missed.
Tim Cook, meanwhile, got a little over 13 percent of the votes in his favor. Long known as the face of Apple, Cook finally stepped down this year and let John Ternus take over.
Apple’s lesser-known CEOs
Steve Jobs remains Apple's most popular CEO. | Image by Matthew Yohe
The lesser-known and underpraised CEOs of Apple, understandably, did not get much fanfare. It makes sense, seeing as they served their roles in the previous century when Apple was not the global phenomenon that it is today. Not to this extent, anyway.
Michael Scott got almost 3.5 percent of the votes, John Sculley got around two percent of the votes, Gil Amelio got a little over one percent of the votes, and Mike Markkula came last with less than one percent of respondents considering him their favorite. The oft-forgotten Michael Spindler was not mentioned.
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John Ternus is catching up
Despite not having been CEO for even a month, 3.4 percent of you said that he was your favorite Apple CEO. At this rate, it won’t be completely unexpected if Ternus overtakes Tim Cook within the coming few years.
Which one do you like the most?
My favorite Apple CEO of all time is:
1410 Votes
I think I know why Ternus is getting popular
Aside from the fact that Ternus has arrived at a time when Apple is a massive global and cultural juggernaut, the company has also very cleverly let him shine in a way that catches people’s attention.
Last year, Apple let Ternus announce the iPhone Air, bringing him into the public eye with the introduction of a brand-new iPhone model. This year, Tim Cook stepped down as CEO just in time for Ternus to announce the new iPhone Duo, Apple’s first-ever foldable smartphone.
Ternus got to show off Apple’s newest innovations and he wasn’t immediately thrust in front of everyone, either. Cook conducted a heartwarming, though ceremonial, transition of power to Ternus during the Apple event last week, letting the average consumer understand that a new era was beginning at Apple.
It also helps, of course, that Ternus comes across as a very likeable person in interviews. Is it any wonder then that he’s already more popular than Apple CEOs that people didn’t even know existed?
It might be worth mentioning, however, that Cook did lose favor with some tech enthusiasts as the years went on for one reason or another. Something similar is very possible for Ternus as well.
What's been going on since Ternus announced the iPhone Duo?
Abdullah loves smartphones, Virtual Reality, and audio gear. Though he covers a wide range of news his favorite is always when he gets to talk about the newest VR venture or when Apple sets the industry ablaze with another phenomenal release.
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