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Who is Apple’s new M&A chief?
According to Reuters, Steve Smith is now Apple’s head of mergers and acquisitions. The memo Reuters describes gives Smith that job and places it under Apple’s chief financial officer, Kevan Parekh. The memo does not, as reported, describe Smith’s previous role, so readers should not assume a specific prior title from this coverage alone.
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What is Adrian Perica doing now?
Adrian Perica is no longer running M&A. Under the memo, he will dedicate his efforts to the Services leadership team and report to Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Services. Reuters’ account of the memo says Perica had overseen iCloud, Fitness+, News and other businesses since 2023, so the move expands his focus toward Services rather than creating a new area of responsibility from scratch.
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Who does Steve Smith report to?
Smith reports to Kevan Parekh. Perica reports to Eddy Cue. The two moves are easiest to compare by function and reporting line:
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| Executive | Function after the memo | Reports to | Source for this detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steve Smith | Head of mergers and acquisitions | Kevan Parekh, CFO | Reuters, citing internal memo |
| Adrian Perica | Services leadership team, no longer M&A | Eddy Cue, SVP of Services | Reuters, citing internal memo |
Apple’s public leadership page lists Cue as senior vice president of Services and Health and Parekh as CFO. It does not list Smith or Perica among the executive profiles shown, which is consistent with these being operating roles below the level of that page rather than a contradiction of the memo.
Perica’s background
Reuters describes Perica as a veteran of more than 17 years in Apple’s M&A and corporate development function. No exact start date is given in the reporting, so the duration should be read as Reuters’ characterization rather than a dated figure. That tenure is the main reason the move matters for readers tracking how Apple handles acquisitions: the function is losing a long-serving leader, and the memo does not say how the transition will be handled.
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What the memo says about Services
Reuters quotes Cue’s memo as saying: “We have big plans for services and I’m thrilled to be getting more of Adrian’s time.” The sentence is Cue’s, reported by Reuters from the memo. It signals that Perica’s time is being directed to Services, but the memo, as quoted, does not lay out specific Services plans, product launches or financial targets.
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A related move in the App Store
Reuters also reports, citing Bloomberg News, that Apple is promoting Carson Oliver to App Store vice president. 9to5Mac, summarizing Bloomberg’s report, says Oliver will report to Cue. This is a separate personnel item attributed to Bloomberg, not part of the memo Reuters describes for the M&A and Perica changes.
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What is confirmed and what is not
- Confirmed by Reuters’ account of the memo: Smith’s appointment as head of M&A, his reporting line to Parekh, Perica’s move to the Services leadership team, his reporting line to Cue, and Cue’s quoted sentence.
- Attributed to Bloomberg, relayed by Reuters and 9to5Mac: Oliver’s promotion to App Store vice president and his reporting line to Cue.
- Not confirmed by Apple publicly: All of the above. Apple had not immediately responded to Reuters’ request for comment at the time of reporting.
- Not established in the reporting: Any deal priorities, acquisition budgets, or financial value tied to the move.
A separate, anonymously sourced Bloomberg report, summarized by 9to5Mac, says some Apple employees see Perica and Apple Music leader Oliver Schusser as possible future successors to Cue, and that splitting Cue’s responsibilities has been discussed. These are reported internal views and options, not an announced plan or a settled decision, and nothing in the memo reporting confirms them.
Reporting on these changes is clearest when readers treat the memo as the primary source. Changes to deal leadership and reporting lines can shift over time, so later Apple statements or Reuters follow-ups would supersede this account.
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Coverage used for this article: Reuters, October 8, 2026, based on the internal memo; 9to5Mac, October 8, 2026, summarizing Bloomberg; Apple’s public leadership page for current titles of Cue and Parekh.
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