Jeff Williams (Apple)
Jeff Williams | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1963 (age 61–62) |
| Alma mater | North Carolina State University (BS) Duke University (MBA) |
| Occupation | COO of Apple[1] |
| Employer | Apple Inc. |
Jeff Williams (born 1963) is an American business executive and chief operating officer of Apple Inc., a position he has held since December 2015.[2] He is due to step down from his role at Apple in July 2025 before retiring from the company later in the year.[3]
As a senior executive of Apple, Williams had a prominent role in launching new products and updates.[3] He was widely considered to be a deputy to the company's chief executive, Tim Cook and his potential successor.[3] In his role at Apple, he was responsible for the company's supply chain, the engineering of the Apple Watch and the company's AppleCare+ customer service.[3]
Education
[edit]Williams studied at Jesse O. Sanderson High School in Raleigh, North Carolina.[2]
Williams received a Bachelor of Science with a major in mechanical engineering from North Carolina State University in 1985 and a MBA from Duke University.[4][2]
Career
[edit]Williams worked for IBM from 1985 to 1998 in a number of operations and engineering roles.[5]
Williams joined Apple in 1998 as head of worldwide procurement, and in 2004 he was named vice president of operations. In 2007, he played a significant role in Apple's entry into the mobile phone market with the launch of the iPhone and he has led worldwide operations for iPod and iPhone since that time.
On December 17, 2015, he was appointed chief operating officer for Apple.[6]
On June 27, 2019, with the announcement that Jony Ive was leaving Apple to form an independent design company, it was announced that Apple's design team leaders Evans Hankey, vice president of Industrial Design, and Alan Dye, vice president of Human Interface Design, will report to Jeff Williams.[7]
On July 8, 2025, it was announced that Williams will step down as chief operations officer of Apple by the end of July 2025.[3] He will stay within the company until his retirement later in 2025.[3] Williams will be succeeded by Sabih Khan.[8][9][10]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Jeff Williams". Archived from the original on April 17, 2020. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
- ^ a b c "Apple Leadership - Jeff Williams". Apple. Archived from the original on September 11, 2024. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f "Apple COO Jeff Williams to Retire in Major Changing of the Guard". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved July 14, 2025.
- ^ "Jeff Williams, BSME 1985". Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Archived from the original on July 28, 2024. Retrieved September 13, 2024.
- ^ McCarthy, Caroline (July 22, 2010). "Apple promotes Jeff Williams to senior VP". CNET News. Retrieved December 4, 2014.
- ^ Love, Julia (December 17, 2015). "Apple names Jeff Williams COO, a job once held by Tim Cook". Reuters. Archived from the original on December 18, 2015. Retrieved December 17, 2015.
- ^ "Jony Ive to form independent design company with Apple as client". Apple Newsroom. Archived from the original on June 13, 2023. Retrieved April 18, 2020.
- ^ Leswing, Kif (July 8, 2025). "Apple says COO Jeff Williams will retire from company later this year". CNBC.
- ^ Forristal, Lauren (July 8, 2025). "Apple COO Jeff Williams to step down later this month". TechCrunch.
- ^ Roth, Emma (July 8, 2025). "One of Tim Cook's possible successors is leaving Apple". The Verge.
