Apple Names Steve Smith New M&A Chief Under CEO John Ternus

Apple Inc. is restructuring its corporate development and leadership ranks under Chief Executive Officer John Ternus, appointing longtime dealmaker Steve Smith as its new head of mergers and acquisitions while shifting outgoing chief Adrian Perica to the services division. The appointment, first reported by Bloomberg News, returns the company’s M&A operations to the finance organization for the first time since 2019.

Steve Smith Takes the Helm Under Kevan Parekh

Smith most recently served as Apple’s senior director of corporate development and worked closely with Perica for years. Under the new reporting line detailed in an internal memo from services chief Eddy Cue, Smith will report directly to Chief Financial Officer Kevan Parekh. This setup restores the corporate structure that existed prior to 2019, when Perica began reporting directly to then-Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook. Ternus assumed the CEO role on September 1 and has initiated several management realignments.

The corporate development team handles vital transactions and arrangements, including the partnership deal with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into Siri. Apple’s M&A strategy historically prioritizes smaller, targeted acquisitions that bring proprietary technology or engineering talent in-house rather than large-scale corporate takeovers. Notable past transactions include the $3 billion purchase of Beats Electronics in 2014, the acquisition of Intel’s smartphone modem business for roughly $1 billion in 2019, and the acquisition of Israeli audio-AI startup Q.ai in January 2026 for close to $2 billion, as reported by the Financial Times.

Adrian Perica Shifts Full Attention to Eddy Cue’s Services Division

Perica led Apple’s corporate development operations for over a decade. Rather than leaving the firm, he is shifting his full attention to the services division to oversee iCloud, Fitness+, and Apple News, responsibilities he has maintained since 2023. He will now report directly to Cue.

The services reorganization places Perica in a prominent position as Cue evaluates potential internal successors. Apple Music lead Oliver Schusser is also viewed as a candidate to eventually take over the division.

Carson Oliver Assumes App Store Leadership as Phil Schiller Steps Back

Alongside the M&A shuffle, Apple is promoting Carson Oliver to vice president of the App Store. Oliver assumed day-to-day leadership of the marketplace in recent months after Phil Schiller, an Apple Fellow who had long overseen the App Store and company events, reduced his responsibilities in August. Oliver reports directly to Cue, who recently expanded his portfolio to include the App Store alongside Health and Fitness teams.

Meanwhile, Jennifer Bailey, the longtime head of Apple Pay and Wallet, is retiring this year. Apple has not yet named a successor to oversee the payments business, leaving a notable vacancy in the executive ranks as the company prepares to report quarterly financial results later this month. Wall Street analysts remain focused on services growth—which hit a record $30.7 billion in the June quarter—and any upcoming signals regarding Apple’s broader artificial intelligence roadmap under Ternus.