Apple’s General Counsel Kate Adams to retire late next year

Apple today announced that Jennifer Newstead will become Apple’s General Counsel on March 1, 2026, following a transition of duties from Kate Adams, who has served as Apple’s General Counsel since 2017. She will join Apple as senior vice president in January, reporting to CEO Tim Cook and serving on Apple’s executive team.
Lisa Jackson, vice president for Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives, will retire in late January 2026. The Government Affairs organization will transition to Adams, who will oversee the team until her retirement late next year, after which it will be led by Newstead. Newstead’s title will become senior vice president, General Counsel and Government Affairs, reflecting the combining of the two organizations. The Environment and Social Initiatives teams will report to Apple chief operating officer Sabih Khan.
“Kate has been an integral part of the company for the better part of a decade, having provided critical advice while always advocating on behalf of our customers’ right to privacy and protecting Apple’s right to innovate,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, in a statement. “I am incredibly grateful to her for the leadership she has provided, for her remarkable determination across a myriad of highly complex issues, and above all, for her thoughtfulness, her deeply strategic mind, and her sound counsel.”
“We couldn’t be more pleased to have Jennifer join our team,” said Cook. “She brings an extraordinary depth of experience and skill to the role, and will advance Apple’s important work all over the world. We are also 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. I know she will be an excellent leader going forward.”
“I have long admired Apple’s deep focus on innovation and strong commitment to its values, its customers, and to making the world a better place,” said Newstead. “I am honored to join the company and to lead an extraordinary team who are dedicated each and every day to doing what’s in the best interest of Apple’s users.”
“It has been one of the great privileges of my life to be a part of Apple, where our work has always been about standing up for the values that are the foundation of this great company,” said Adams. “I am proud of the good our wonderful team has done over the past eight years, and I am filled with gratitude for the chance to have made a difference. Jennifer is an exceptional talent and I am confident that I am leaving the team in the very best hands, and I’m really looking forward to working more closely with the Government Affairs team.”
Newstead was most recently chief legal officer at Meta and previously served as the legal adviser of the U.S. Department of State, where she led the legal team responsible for advising the Secretary of State on legal issues affecting the conduct of U.S. foreign relations. She held a range of other positions in government earlier in her career as well, including as general counsel of the White House Office of Management and Budget, as a principal deputy assistant attorney general of the Office of Legal Policy at the Department of Justice, as associate White House counsel, and as a law clerk to Justice Stephen Breyer of the U.S. Supreme Court. She also spent a dozen years as partner at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, where she advised global corporations on a wide variety of issues. Newstead holds an AB from Harvard University and a JD from Yale Law School.
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MacDailyNews Take: Congratulations to Kate Adams on your retirement and to Jennifer Newstead on her new position!

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