Apple has hired Jennifer Newstead, chief legal officer at Meta, as its new general counsel, part of a series of executive changes at the iPhone maker.
Newstead will assume the role on March 1, following the handover of her responsibilities from current general counsel Kate Adams, Apple said in a statement on Thursday. In another move, government affairs executive Lisa Jackson will retire at the end of January. She oversaw the company’s environmental, political and social initiatives.
The recent restructuring follows the departure last month of chief operating officer Jeff Williams, who had long been CEO Tim Cook’s No. 2. Apple design executive Alan Dye is also leaving for Meta, where he will help develop the company’s hardware devices.
Newstead’s hiring is a rare case where Apple recruits someone from Meta, rather than the other way around. A former consultant to the US State Department, she joined Meta — then Facebook — in 2019.
The executive is coming off a major legal victory at Meta, which defeated the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) allegations of violating antitrust laws. The case involved the acquisitions of photo-sharing app Instagram and messaging service WhatsApp.
In a memo to Meta employees announcing his departure, Newstead highlighted the FTC case as one of the milestones in his seven years at the company. “I believed in our mission and wanted to help the company navigate an important set of changes in the legal and regulatory landscape,” he wrote.
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The role at Apple represented a unique opportunity to “continue shaping legal and policy issues around the world,” Newstead added.
Apple faces its own antitrust challenges. The US Department of Justice and 16 attorneys general filed a lawsuit in March 2024 alleging that the company’s policies hinder competition and make it difficult for consumers to switch phones. There is still no date set for the trial of this case.
With Jackson’s departure, government affairs responsibilities will transfer to Newstead, who will become senior vice president. The environmental and social initiatives teams, in turn, will report to operations director Sabih Khan.
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Jackson, a former administrator at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, was hired in 2013.
In Thursday’s statement, Cook praised Jackson for helping Apple reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by more than 60% over the past decade.
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