In brief: Apple, the world's second-largest company by market cap, is currently experiencing an exodus of executives. Following the departure of AI chief John Giannandrea and design exec Alan Dye, it has announced that general counsel Kate Adams and vice president for environment, policy, and social initiatives Lisa Jackson are also leaving the firm.
Adams, who will retire in January 2026, has served as Apple's general counsel since 2017, when she joined from Honeywell. Few companies deal with as many legal issues as Apple, from lawsuits relating to patents and products, to dealing with regulators and antitrust complaints in other countries.
Replacing Adams will be Meta's chief legal officer, Jennifer Newstead, who will become Apple's new general counsel reporting to CEO Tim Cook in March.
Newstead has held several positions in government, including serving as an associate White House counsel, general counsel of the White House Office of Management and Budget, and principal deputy assistant attorney general of the Office of Legal Policy at the Department of Justice.
Cook said that Newstead will oversee both the Legal and Government Affairs organizations.
Jackson, meanwhile, joined Apple in 2013 having previously worked as an administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency. She was involved with Apple's DEI efforts such as the Racial Equity and Justice Initiative. Jackson will retire in late January 2026.
Tech companies have been rushing to scale back or end their DEI initiatives since Donald Trump began his second term in office. In February, the President told Apple directly to get rid of its DEI programs after shareholders voted down a proposal to dismantle them.
Jackson's government affairs staff will report to Newstead starting late next year.
Apple and Meta appear to be playing swap the exec right now. Newstead arrives from Meta just after it was revealed that John Giannandrea, who had been Apple's AI chief since 2018, will join the social media giant next year.
Apple has struggled with the AI overhaul of Siri, delaying it several times, while its AI-condensed news headlines were slammed for generating false statements.
A few days later, it was revealed that Alan Dye, who led Apple's user interface team, would be joining Meta to focus on improving AI features in its consumer devices, such as VR headsets.
Apple has lost over a dozen executives and researchers this year, nine of whom have been hired by Meta.