Billionaire Elon Musk, and multiple other tech executives have extended their congratulations to newly-appointed Apple CEO John Ternus, reacting directly to the executive’s first-ever post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter). Making his first public post on the platform since stepping into Apple’s top leadership role, Ternus shared a minimalist greeting that read simply, “hello”.Responding to the update, the Tesla and X chief wrote, “Congrats!””before following up with an additional comment noting, “New Apple CEO posting on X”.
AMD CEO Lisa Su , Salesforce chief Marc Benioff extend congrats to new Apple CEO
Not just Musk, executives including AMD CEO Lisa Su, Salesforce chief Mac Benioff, Logan Kilpatrick , who is the product lead for Google AI Studio, also wished the new Apple CEO.“Congrats John! All the best,” said Su. Benioff added a simple “Congrats” with a heart emoji. Kilpatrick said: “good morning.” IBM posted a meme in which a person is seen waving hand in “hello” fashion.Tech millionaire Bryan Johnson posted a long message, welcoming Ternus on X, saying, “Hey John, congratulations and welcome to X.”“A heads up that you may see some unusual things from me on the TL. I’m trying to stop. Also, I see you were an accomplished rower at Penn. lmk if you want to join me in an attempt to dunk a basketball. We’re the same age,” he added.Greg Joswiak, Apple SVP marketing replied to Ternus post: “Hello, indeed. More to say September 9. 😉”
Apple’s leadership transition after 15-year Tim Cook era
Ternus formally stepped into the chief executive seat on September 1, 2026, marking the conclusion of Tim Cook’s 15-year tenure leading the technology giant. The 51-year-old executive takes charge at a crucial juncture, as Apple confronts escalating market pressure to match competitors in the fast-moving artificial intelligence (AI) landscape.Ternus brings 25 years of experience to the chief executive role, having first arrived at Apple in 2001 as part of its design group. He has worked with Apple cofounder and former CEO Steve Jobs. He advanced to vice president in 2013 and was elevated to senior vice president of hardware engineering in 2021, reporting directly to Cook.Throughout his executive leadership, Ternus guided hardware engineering initiatives across Apple’s cornerstone devices, including the iPhone, Mac, iPad, Apple Watch and Vision Pro.
