Apple’s General Counsel and Government Affairs Head to Retire

Apple announced some executive transitions Thursday (Dec. 4), saying two executives are preparing to retire.

Lisa Jackson, vice president for environment, policy and social initiatives, will retire in late January 2026, while Kate Adams, general counsel, will retire in late 2026, Apple said in a press release.

Before her retirement, Adams will begin overseeing the government affairs organization upon Jackson’s retirement and will hand off her own duties as general counsel on March 1, according to the release.

Taking over those duties will be Jennifer Newstead, who is currently Meta’s chief legal officer. Newstead will join Apple as senior vice president in January 2026, reporting to CEO Tim Cook and serving on the company’s executive team; will become general counsel on March 1; and will also become leader of the government affairs organization upon Adams’ retirement, per the release.

Cook said in the release that Apple is “pleased that Jennifer will be overseeing both the Legal and Government Affairs organizations, given the increasing overlap between the work of both teams and her substantial background in international affairs.”

These moves follow some other executive changes at Apple.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Wednesday (Dec. 3) that his company had hired longtime Apple design executive Alan Dye to lead a new creative studio in Meta’s Reality Labs division. Zuckerberg also said the studio will include another design lead from Apple, Billy Sorrentino.

On Monday (Dec. 1), Apple announced that longtime machine learning chief John Giannandrea will step down and that Amar Subramanya will become vice president of artificial intelligence. The company said that Giannandrea will shift into an advisory role before retiring in spring 2026.

In July, Apple said the Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams would hand off some of his duties before retiring later this year to spend more time with friends and family. Williams transitioned his role as COO in July to Sabih Kahn, who was previously the company’s senior vice president of operations.

In August 2024, Apple announced a chief financial officer transition in which Luca Maestri would be replaced by Kevan Parekh.