Following the recent retirement of former COO Jeff Williams, AI chief John Giannandrea stepping down, and the exit of head of design Alan Dye for Meta, Apple announced Thursday that Lisa Jackson, who leads environmental and policy efforts, is retiring and that Jennifer Newstead will take over for Kate Adams as the company’s general counsel after Adams retires “by the end of next year.”
Jackson, officially “vice president for Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives,” is set to retire in “late January 2026,” according to Apple. Newstead, currently serving as Meta’s chief legal officer, will assume the role of general counsel at Apple on March 1st, 2026, succeeding Adams, who has held the general counsel position at Apple since 2017.
With Jackson’s departure and Newstead’s arrival, Apple is also implementing some organizational changes and reassigning certain duties to Sabih Khan, who will replace Williams as COO. Apple elaborated:
The Government Affairs team will transition under Adams, who will manage the unit until her retirement next year, after which Newstead will take charge. Newstead’s title will be updated to senior vice president, General Counsel and Government Affairs, reflecting the integration of the two departments. The Environment and Social Initiatives teams will report to Apple’s COO Sabih Khan.
Before arriving at Apple in 2013, Jackson previously led the EPA during part of President Obama’s administration. Apple appointed Jackson as policy lead in 2015. Adams joined Apple in 2017 after a 14-year tenure at Honeywell, according to the company’s website.
