Apple today announced in its press release that Katherine Adams, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, and Lisa Jackson, Vice President of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives, are retiring. Both departures are scheduled for 2026, adding to a long list of recent exits at the company.
Apple confirmed that Lisa Jackson will retire in late January 2026. Katherine Adams will leave later in the year. These two leaders shaped major parts of Apple’s policy and environmental work, and their exits arrived only days after Apple revealed multiple other executive departures.
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Adding to this shift, Apple said in the press release that Jennifer Newstead will join the company on March 1, 2026. She previously served as the legal adviser at the U.S. Department of State and, most recently, as Meta’s chief legal officer. She will become Apple’s general counsel as Adams prepares to step away.
Apple Is Restructuring Its Leadership
Apple outlined several structural changes in the press release:
- Jackson’s Government Affairs group will move to Katherine Adams, who will run the team until she retires in late 2026.
- Jennifer Newstead will take over both the General Counsel’s office and Government Affairs once Adams steps away.
- The Environment and Social Initiatives teams will report to Chief Operating Officer Sabih Khan.
Tim Cook praised both executives in Apple’s announcement.
- About Adams, he said, “Kate has been an integral part of the company for the better part of a decade,” noting her focus on customer privacy and her “deeply strategic mind.”
- He also thanked Jackson, saying, “She has been instrumental in helping us reduce our global greenhouse emissions by more than 60 percent compared to 2015 levels.”
With these departures, Apple’s executive turnover grows even larger. Earlier this week, Apple revealed that John Giannandrea, head of Machine Learning and AI Strategy, will retire in spring 2026. The company also confirmed that Alan Dye, who has led Human Interface Design since 2015, is leaving to run a new design studio at Meta. Other recent exits include COO Jeff Williams.
These changes raise more questions about Apple’s future leadership, especially since the Tim Cook era appears to be entering its final stretch. Apple has not said who will lead the company once Cook steps aside, but the pace of internal shifts shows how quickly the structure around him is moving.
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