What happened
Apple has unveiled a leadership transition, confirming that hardware honcho John Ternus will take over as chief executive on 1 September, ending Tim Cook’s nearly 15-year tenure in the role. Cook (pictured above) will remain with the company as executive chair. The move formalises a succession process that has reportedly been under way since last year, handing control of one of the world’s most valuable companies to a long-serving insider.

Who said what
Rather than innovation, Cook will be “best remembered for a period of dramatic growth for the business”, and for his role in “establishing and maintaining an unprecedented international supply chain”, said Samuel Axon on news site Ars Technica.

Cook described the role as “the greatest privilege of my life” and said “I love Apple with all of my being”. He praised his successor as having “the mind of an engineer and the soul of an innovator”.

What next?
Ternus inherits a hugely profitable business, but one that “nevertheless faces increasing questions over its future”, said The Guardian. Apple is under pressure to define its place in artificial intelligence, an area where rivals have moved faster.

What happened
Amy Winehouse’s father has lost his legal case against two of his late daughter’s friends, in which he claimed that they had “deliberately concealed” items from the estate.

Mitch Winehouse had sued Naomi Parry and Catriona Gourlay over the sale of 141 items owned by his daughter – who died from alcohol poisoning in 2011 – at auctions in Los Angeles in 2021 and 2023.

Who said what
Winehouse had claimed that seeking legal action for £700,000 was his “only means to obtaining answers”. However, High Court judge Sarah Clarke KC stated that she found him to be an “unreliable witness” and that Winehouse could have made such discoveries with “reasonable diligence”.

Parry claimed that Winehouse had acted out of “petty jealousy” and, despite his £250,000 offer to make the claims go away, she said she would “rather set the money on fire than give him a penny”.

What next?
In a statement made outside court, Parry said her focus was now on “protecting my name, the work I created with Amy, and her legacy”.

As conflict continues to destabilise the Middle East, the Gulf States elite are seeking solace in European alternatives that offer comparable financial benefits with a far lower risk of war on the doorstep. One such destination is the small Swiss town of Zug, which is becoming a “bolt-hole” for Gulf-based wealth, according to the Financial Times.

“In almost all ways Zug is unremarkable,” said The Times, with its traditional Swiss architecture and cobbled waterfront lanes. But if its “Alpine lake water is clear”, the financial scene is more “murky”. Many credit Marc Rich and Pincus “Pinky” Green, founders of metals and minerals trading firm Glencore, with the transformation of Zug from a “Swiss backwater” to its status as the “Swiss Monaco”. The multinational is headquartered just outside Zug and has made the town a “global powerhouse for trading crude and refined oil products”. It should come as “no surprise” that the “1% of the world’s 1%” are taking shelter there and, at the same time, hoping to still “keep a hand in the oil business”.

“Industry estimates suggest that tens of billions of dollars could flow into Switzerland depending on how the current conflict evolves,” said the Outbound Investment Group. The “immediate trigger” for the “surge in interest” from Gulf-based investors is the war in the Middle East. But Switzerland’s underlying appeal is its unwavering “Swissness”: “political neutrality”, “strong legal frameworks” and a reputation for wealth preservation. It’s a safe bet with no sign of slowing.