Apple is known for its supply-chain prowess and is turning to company veteran Sabih Khan to become its next chief operating officer when Jeff Williams retires
Jeff Williams will retire from Apple later in 2025, but he’ll turn over COO duties this month.
Apple Inc. is opting for stability as Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams, who boasts nearly three decades of experience at the company, prepares his exit.
Williams plans to retire later this year, Apple announced Tuesday afternoon, but he’ll turn the COO role over to Sabih Khan, another Apple veteran, later in July. Apple said in a release that the move was part of a “long-planned succession.”
Williams joined Apple in 1998 and became the leader of worldwide product operations in 2010, according to his biographical page on Apple’s leadership site. He officially became COO in 2015. Williams was in charge of engineering development for the Apple Watch and currently leads the company’s design team.
Khan, meanwhile, brings 30 years of experience at Apple, including six overseeing the company’s supply chain, the release said. That role has involved planning, procurement, logistics and other related areas which are all the more important now as trade-war concerns loom over the company. Investors want to see how Apple is able to flex its supply chain to navigate President Donald Trump’s evolving tariff landscape.
Given Khan’s long tenure at the company, Wall Street shouldn’t expect much to change strategically. What’s more, Chief Executive Tim Cook hails from the operations team, having served as COO before moving to the top post in 2011 and gaining renown for his work shoring up Apple’s supply chain. He’s likely to remain active as well in the company’s future operational moves.
Another challenge for Apple sits on the product and design side, as critics say the company has become slow to innovate. The Vision Pro headset that launched in 2024 was Apple’s first major new product category in about eight years, and its $3,499 price tag signaled that it wasn’t intended to be a mainstream device — at least in this iteration.
Investors generally are comforted by continuity in leadership at businesses with strong track records, though some might argue that Apple needs a shakeup nowadays, with its shares down 16% so far this year and worries swirling about the company’s ability to be competitive in the era of artificial intelligence.
Williams oversaw Apple’s design team while serving as COO, and he’ll continue to do so until his official retirement later this year. But when Williams leaves the company, Khan won’t assume that part of the old COO role, as Apple noted that the design team will start reporting straight to Cook.
Apple similarly went with an internal pick for its transition at chief financial officer, which was announced last year and effective at the start of this year. As Luca Maestri stepped down after joining Apple in 2013, he was replaced with Kevan Parekh, who also arrived at the company that same year.
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