Those weren't his literal words, but I trust you get my point: in most cases, this sort of transition is handled with something like "Joe Foobar will step down as FoobarCo's CEO at the end of next month, transitioning to [insert obviously ceremonial position]." This is an immediate transition to a position which isn't obviously ceremonial at all.
I'm not suggesting anything tragic like a fatal illness, a #MeToo event, or a presidential run, but only suggesting that this is an unusually-handled event. Look at his predecessor Michael Eisner, who was forced to resign after losing a boardroom battle -- Iger was announced as the next CEO in March 2005, but Eisner didn't actually leave until the end of September 2005, over six months later.