When a company as huge and influential as Apple makes a change in its top leadership, the world pays attention, since a high-level leadership change could affect the future trajec

Jeff Williams is retiring as the company's longtime No. 2, marking a major changing of the guard at an already tumultuous time for the iPhone maker.

Apple CEO Tim Cook is about to take over one of the most significant parts of Apple’s business: its design team. The team currently reports to COO Jeff Williams, but once Williams begins his just-announced retirement “late in the year,” the design team “will then transition to reporting directly to Cook,” Apple says.