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The chairmanship of Apple's board has traced the company's power shifts: Steve Jobs held the title in the early years, John Sculley and Mike Markkula through the classic era, and the seat sat effectively empty through Jobs's restoration — he took it formally only in his final months, 2011. Arthur Levinson, the Calico chief and Genentech veteran who joined the board in 2000, then chaired it for fifteen years.

With the April 2026 succession announcement, the pattern repeats: as John Ternus takes the CEO office on September 1, 2026, Tim Cook moves upstairs as executive chairman — keeping a hand in policy, government relations, and the long arc — while Levinson transitions to lead independent director. An executive chairman is a first for modern Apple: the founder's successor staying in the building.