Apple names Steve Smith as M&A chief and moves the deal team under CFO Kevan Parekh
Adrian Perica moves to Apple's services division under Eddy Cue, while Steve Smith takes over deal-making and reports to CFO Kevan Parekh, the first finance-side reporting line since 2019.
A new M&A chief and a return to finance
Apple has named Steve Smith, a longtime lieutenant of Adrian Perica, as head of mergers and acquisitions, according to a memo written by services chief Eddy Cue and seen by Reuters on Thursday. Bloomberg reported the change citing people familiar with the matter. Smith takes over the M&A and corporate development function that Perica led for more than a decade after joining Apple in 2009. Smith will report to CFO Kevan Parekh, moving the group back under the finance division for the first time since 2019. Apple declined a request for comment.
The reshuffle follows a policy change on the finance side. Parekh told the May earnings call that Apple was abandoning the net cash neutral policy it set in 2018 and would evaluate cash and debt independently, a shift analysts read as room to buy things. Apple held about $54B in net cash. Its largest acquisition remains Beats, bought for $3B in 2014, and it paid about $2B for the Israeli AI firm Q.ai this year.
Perica's move and the succession question
Perica, a veteran of more than 17 years in that function, keeps oversight of iCloud, Fitness+ and Apple News, which he has run since 2023. He now reports to Eddy Cue, who oversees services and the App Store. Bloomberg reported that Cue is assessing potential successors, with Perica a lead candidate alongside Apple Music leader Oliver Schusser. Another option under discussion is splitting Cue's responsibilities between the two executives.
The move gives Perica a more prominent position within Cue's organization at a time when the services chief is weighing several successors. Many Apple employees familiar with the situation believe Perica and Schusser are the leading candidates to eventually replace Cue.
App Store leadership and the Ternus era
Carson Oliver is being promoted to vice president of the App Store and will report to Cue. He has run the store day to day since Phil Schiller stepped back in late August, and the role now centers mostly on Europe. The changes come under CEO John Ternus, who replaced Tim Cook on 1 September.
- Parekh tells the May earnings call Apple is abandoning its net cash neutral policy
- Phil Schiller steps back as App Store chief in late August
- John Ternus replaces Tim Cook as CEO
- Steve Smith named M&A chief, Perica moves to services, Carson Oliver promoted
The European workload is substantial. The Commission fined Apple EUR 500M over anti-steering, the General Court rejected Apple's argument in July that its app stores are separate services, and in August Apple replaced the EU Core Technology Fee with a flat 5% commission.
Open seats and deal activity
Jennifer Bailey, who ran Apple Pay and Wallet for years, leaves this month, and Cue has not named a successor. The M&A group also negotiates partnerships, including the 2024 arrangement that put ChatGPT into Apple products and the standing deal that makes Google the default search engine. Two of the moves in the reporting, the App Store promotion and the Perica transfer, sit in services, while the M&A seat returns to finance.
