Apple (AAPL.US) is about to change hands, and Cook handed over an “amazing” report card: market capitalization rose by 32 million US dollars per hour, and repurchases of 877 billion US dollars topped the world

The Zhitong Finance App learned that Apple (AAPL.US) will soon usher in a change of head on September 1 — John Tenus, senior vice president of hardware engineering, will succeed Tim Cook. Cook is about to step down after being in charge of Apple for nearly 15 years, and the market is beginning to look back at the rich family left by this “master of operations”. A set of data is particularly astonishing: during Cook's tenure, Apple's market value increased from about 350 billion US dollars to 4.5 trillion US dollars, which is equivalent to an increase of about 32 million US dollars per hour; at the same time, Apple bought back a total of 877 billion US dollars of shares, making it the largest company in the world to repurchase shares.

According to Yahoo Finance AlphaSpace analysis, Apple's market value was about 350 billion US dollars when Cook took over, but now it has climbed to 4.5 trillion US dollars. Bank of America analyst Wamsey Mohan calculated that this increase is equivalent to continuing to accumulate at a rate of about 32 million dollars per hour over the past 15 years.

“Cook transformed Apple from a company that relies on a few product cycles to a company that continues to generate growth, cash flow, customer loyalty, and innovation at massive scale and SKU complexity.” Mohan said.

The biggest wave of repurchases in history: Cook repurchased $877 billion during his tenure

Since Cook took over as CEO in 2011, one of the most significant strategic shifts was to return capital to shareholders. He resumed dividends in 2012 and, more importantly, launched a large-scale share repurchase program.

Research by The Motley Fool shows that over the past 10 years, Apple has spent more on share buybacks than any other company. During Cook's tenure, Apple's board of directors broke repurchase authorization records several times:

FY2013: The initial authorization was 10 billion US dollars, then added to 60 billion US dollars, making it the largest single repurchase authorization in history at the time;

2018: Authorized $100 billion repurchase;

2024: Authorize 110 billion US dollars, the largest single repurchase to date;

2025 and 2026: Authorize $100 billion each.

Although licensing is not equivalent to actual execution, Apple usually uses up most of the amount. Up to now, Apple under Cook's leadership has bought back up to $877 billion in shares.

What does a major buyback mean for shareholders?

After Apple bought back the stock, it was cancelled. After the number of tradable shares was reduced, the shareholding ratio of existing shareholders increased accordingly. Based on Apple's current market value, a $100 billion repurchase authorization is equivalent to repurchasing about 2% of the company's shares. Within a single quarter or year, this change is relatively small.

But for long-term investors, the results are remarkable. When Cook took over, Apple's tradable shares after stock splitting were about 26 billion shares, but as of July 2026, it had dropped to 14.6 billion shares, a decrease of about 44%. This means that for every share purchased during Cook's tenure, the corresponding company's ownership ratio is now nearly 80% higher than it was then.

It's important to note that since Apple launched its share repurchase program, its valuation has risen sharply. For most of the 2010s, Apple's price-earnings ratio fluctuated between 12 and 18 times, but now the rolling price-earnings ratio has reached 36 times. Repurchasing at a higher valuation level means that the increase in value created for shareholders will be reduced accordingly.

Tenus' difficult task: maintaining the “profit machine” and reshaping the “technological surprise”

On April 20, Apple announced that Cook will step down after being in charge for nearly 15 years and hand over Shuai Yin to 51-year-old Tenus. Tenus will officially take office on September 1, coinciding with the launch of Apple's key new products and the eve of the year-end holiday shopping season. Apple's last CEO handover took place in August 2011, when co-founder Steve Jobs handed over the company to Cook.

The Motley Fool said this change in leadership may herald a shift in the company's strategy. Buybacks will still be part of Apple's strategy, but the new management may shift some of the capital to R&D or mergers and acquisitions. Given that Apple's current valuation is no longer low, these two paths may be a better engine for growth than continuing to buy back.

The task facing Tenus was very difficult. Bank of America's Mohan stated, “Apple is already so big, profitable, and deeply embedded in the lives of its customers, progressive excellence alone may not be enough to redefine the company. Tenus' challenge was not only to preserve the profit machine Cook created, but also to recreate a stronger sense of technological surprise.”

Cook himself said of Tenus: “He has the mind of an engineer, the soul of an innovator, and the heart to lead with integrity and honor.” These characteristics will be the key for Tenus to ensure Apple's continued success in the age of artificial intelligence.