Tim Cook has previously said that he'd probably be out of Apple by 2031. In a new interview celebrating Apple's 50th anniversary, he makes it clear rumors that he would retire in 2026 are false, and he isn't leaving any time soon.

It was actually a direct quote Cook gave The New York Times back in 2021, saying he would "probably not" still be at Apple ten years from then. He said it on Kara Swisher's podcast for the paper, so it's not like it was a misquote.

True, he didn't exactly give a leaving date, and it's not really as if anyone fully believed him while Apple is going through upheavals over Apple Intelligence. But now in an interview with ABC's "Good Morning America," he flat-out denies the story.

"No, I didn't say that," Cook claimed when he could have said he has no plans to leave. "I never said that, that's a rumor going around."

"Well, here's the way I look at it," he continued, using his familiar phrase when he wants to move a question over into an area he prefers. "I love what I do deeply. 28 years ago, I walked into Apple, and I've loved every day of it since."

"We've had ups and downs, but the people I work with are so amazing," he continued. "They bring out the best in me, and hopefully I can bring out the best in them."

"I can't imagine life without Apple," Cook concluded.

Cook will retire

Cook is careful with his words and chose to enthuse about Apple today instead of discussing Apple tomorrow. Nonetheless, Cook is now 65.

By itself, that doesn't mean he'll leave just yet. Warren Buffett has only just retired and he's 95. Similarly, Roger Penske is 88, Robert Greenberg at Sketchers is 85. Donald Trump is 79.

It's a fair bet that if Steve Jobs had lived, he'd still be Apple CEO. He'd now be 71.

Yet Jobs did leave Apple before he died, and there was a succession plan in place that saw Cook taking over. There is unquestionably a succession plan now for who will replace Cook.

It would be corporate irresponsibility for there not to be such a plan, and probably for it to have been in place for many years. That would be true even if the head of this corporation weren't Tim Cook, the man whose key contribution has been in planning and logistics.