Markets & Business
Trump suggests Apple's Tim Cook as Nvidia's next CEO
President Trump suggested on Truth Social that former Apple CEO Tim Cook should replace Jensen Huang as Nvidia's chief executive.
U.S. President Donald Trump named Tim Cook, who left the Apple CEO role on September 1, 2026, as his pick to replace Jensen Huang atop Nvidia, writing on Truth Social that Cook was the sole candidate he saw fit for the job and declaring, “A Legend replaces a Legend!”
Cook remains involved with Apple as executive chairman of its board, where he continues to engage with global policymakers and manage the company’s international relationships, including with China; John Ternus succeeded him as CEO. Trump is not alone in floating Cook: in a Wednesday Time op-ed, Yale School of Management’s Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, who studies CEO leadership and corporate governance, also listed Cook among potential candidates, pointing to his record of taking over from Apple’s famously larger-than-life co-founder, Steve Jobs.
Why it matters
A sitting president publicly weighing in on a chipmaker’s succession underscores how closely Washington is now watching Nvidia’s leadership vacuum, given the company’s centrality to the AI industry and U.S.-China chip policy.