Tim Cook’s Final Move as Apple CEO: The Biggest American Manufacturing Deal in Company History
Tim Cook's final act as AAPL CEO locks in a $30 billion AVGO deal producing 15 billion US-made chips through 2031.
Memory chip costs have surged 500% since August 2025, forcing Apple to raise MacBook and iPad prices 17-25% while sparing iPhones.
Cook grew Apple from $300 billion to $4 trillion, representing the most value creation in corporate history, before handing off to John Ternus.
Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Apple didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.
Tim Cook has less than two months left as Apple CEO. On Wednesday, he announced the largest domestic manufacturing commitment in company history: a multi-year deal with Broadcom expected to exceed $30 billion, the biggest single commitment ever made under Apple's American Manufacturing Program. It closes a fifteen-year tenure defined by supply-chain mastery.
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) said the agreement with Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) will produce more than 15 billion US-made chips and includes a $1.5 billion expansion of Broadcom's facility in Fort Collins, Colorado. Bloomberg reports the arrangement runs through 2031, extending well beyond Cook's tenure. The Fort Collins plant will build advanced radio-frequency components, including FBAR filters. FBAR (Film Bulk Acoustic Resonator) filters clean up the radio signals inside an iPhone so calls and data come through clearly.
Cook's statement was direct: "Apple and Broadcom have a long history together, and this new phase of our partnership further accelerates our commitment to American manufacturing and innovation. The cutting-edge components built in Fort Collins are essential to delivering the incredible performance and connectivity our customers expect." He also thanked President Trump and his administration for supporting the project, while Hock Tan credited Apple's commitment for expanding Broadcom's Colorado footprint.
Cook told investors on Apple's Q2 earnings call that tight capacity at TSMC constrained iPhone supply. Meanwhile, memory chip costs have jumped roughly 500% since August 2025 as AI data centers compete with consumer electronics, pushing Apple to raise MacBook and iPad prices 17-25% while sparing iPhones. Apple's most recent 10-Q flags reliance on third parties for components, technology, and manufacturing as a top risk. Domestic supply of critical wireless silicon is now strategic infrastructure.
Broadcom shares jumped as much as 5% in premarket trading on Monday, July 6, following the announcement. AVGO closed at $370.78 on July 7, 2026, up 36.22% over the past twelve months. Broadcom reported Q2 FY2026 revenue of $22.19 billion, up 47.9% year over year, with AI semiconductor revenue of $10.80 billion, growing 143% YoY. Apple accounts for roughly 20% of Broadcom's annual revenue, and locking that in through 2031 de-risks the base while Hock Tan chases his stated $100 billion AI sales target by 2027. Beyond Apple, Broadcom is developing next-gen TPUs for Google, expanded its Anthropic deal for 3.5 GW of computing capacity from 2027, and partnered with OpenAI on the Jalapeno Intelligence Processor. Investors weighing AVGO should treat the Apple extension as a durable revenue anchor rather than a standalone thesis.
Cook announced on April 20, 2026 that he will step down as Apple CEO on September 1, 2026. John Ternus, SVP of Hardware Engineering, will succeed him, with Cook becoming executive chairman. Polymarket had priced this outcome, with the Ternus contract resolving at 0.993 on $800,586.53 of volume. Ternus inherits a domestic supply chain for critical wireless components on day one, and Cook, as executive chairman, will keep engaging with policymakers around the world, continuing to steward the Broadcom relationship.
The numbers behind Cook's tenure are striking. He grew Apple from about $300 billion when Steve Jobs died in 2011 to roughly $4 trillion today, the most value creation in corporate history by any CEO. His final full quarter as chief executive delivered $111.184 billion in revenue, up 16.6% YoY, an eighth consecutive EPS beat, and an installed base above 2.5 billion active devices. Fortune called 2026 "one of the most seismic years for CEO transitions," alongside Greg Abel at Berkshire and John Furner at Walmart.
Cook's Apple was built on invisible architecture: contracts, capacity, logistics, and supplier trust. The Broadcom agreement threads all of it. On September 1, he hands the keys to an engineer, having spent his last summer securing the wireless silicon that will sit inside every iPhone Ternus ships for the next five years. For a CEO whose signature was operational discipline, it is the most fitting exit.
Contact editorial@247wallst.com for any questions or corrections.