Apple’s new CEO, and why Elon Musk wants to buy Cursor for $60B

A new era is dawning for Apple, as Tim Cook plans to step down from his role as CEO in September and hand the reins to hardware chief John Ternus.

Ternus may inherit one of the most sustainable companies in the technology sector, but he is also entering a very different ecosystem than the one Cook has worked on for decades. The 30% cut to the App Store is under threat, the behind-the-scenes power Apple once had over developers is being challenged, and vibe-coded apps are changing what it means to build on Apple’s platform.

In this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, hosts Kirsten Korosec, Anthony Ha, and Sean O’Kane dig deeper into what this transition means for startups and take a look at some of the biggest deals of the week, including SpaceX’s $60 billion option on Cursor.

Listen to the full episode and hear more about:

• What the SpaceX-Cursor deal (and that $10 billion breakup fee) says about Elon Musk’s AI strategy after the xAI merger

• Why fintech Revolut and AI chip start up Brain‘The public market plans make us wonder whether this is actually the year in which the IPO market will reopen

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