Apple CEO Steve Jobs, 55, today sent the following email to all Apple employees:
Team,
At my request, the board of directors has granted me a medical leave of absence so I can focus on my health. I will continue as CEO and be involved in major strategic decisions for the company.
I have asked Tim Cook to be responsible for all of Apple’s day to day operations. I have great confidence that Tim and the rest of the executive management team will do a terrific job executing the exciting plans we have in place for 2011.
I love Apple so much and hope to be back as soon as I can. In the meantime, my family and I would deeply appreciate respect for our privacy.
Steve
Source: Apple Inc.
The timing of the announcement seems designed to allow the markets time to absorb the news as major markets such as NASDAQ are closed today due to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
Apple will announce fiscal year 2011 first quarter (Q111) financial results after market close on Tuesday, January 18, 2011. As usual, MacDailyNews will cover Apple’s conference call with analysts live, beginning at 2pm PST/5pm EST.
MacDailyNews Take: Get well, Steve!
P.S. If “your” resorting to insults, it’s best to first check who the real idiot is.
The Big ‘C’. 🙁
Even with billions in the bank poor steve can’t cure it.
Makes you realise how unimportant money is.
Get well soon mate!
1st: Steve, you are loved: be well, take care, and we hope you’re feeling better soon. Seeing you back at the helm one day wouldn’t be bad either. It will be interesting, though, to see what happens in your absence. In the meantime, I might be coming back to work for you, and look forward to it, if that happens.
@pupa
10%. And I happen to be sitting on investable cash from a sale of AAPL call options Friday 14th. See what happens at the open. Might buy puts in the short term then turn around and buy calls after the drop — which is characteristic when (more, bigger, better-than-ever) earnings are announced.
I had planned on sitting on the cash for a week or two until the stock settled. We’ll see…
@m159
Thanks for adding a note of levity to this thread.
much appreciated.
Be ready for changes… Alas, will Tim ever or any other, have enough “vision” to make the right changing at the right moment?
I love Steve very much. The New York Times article paints a pretty dire picture for his future health. Although we’re only 2 years into the five year post transplant life expectancy, this reads like he might be near the end. I pray not. In any event I have confidence in the rest of Apple’s team to continue great innovation in the years to come. Please get well soon Steve.
@FutureMedia: The “media” also had Gabrielle Giffords as already dead when she was in surgery; this weekend they took her off the ventilator and she’s reportedly been giving neck rubs to her husband.
Don’t believe every thing you see in the “media”.
I have the most respect for you ,I am new to apple & Have been over powered by your companys work look after your self your a very clever man.
I love you Steve, lol.
Best wishes to you, Steve.
Sent from Vienna, Austria.
I don’t believe in god.
I respect and admire Steve. This world is so much better because of him. I will be sending all good wishes to Steve and his family and I hope for his swift recovery. We need him here on earth.
I love you, Steve. You’re my John Lennon.
Get well soon Mr. Jobs your products and your ambition has changed millions of lives for the better and created markets where there were none !! Truly one of the greatest men ever to create and control an empire !! Ford , rockefeller , jobs innovation and dedication !!!!
And keep in mind all you wall street bottom feeders steve jobs is still in control !!!! By proxy
Hope he gets better soon
No matter what happens to Steve in the future, he will go down in history as a marketing genius with amazing product vision.
Get better soon. Thank you for all you have done at Apple. All the best to you and your family.
Ger well soon, Steve, and thank you for the great ride to date …. Like you, I love Apple and their products and what the Company stands for ….
Wishing you all the BEST, brother of a different Mother!
Steve’s Catch-22: the liver transplant was a risky move since it means that he is on anti-rejection drugs which can cause cancer cells to proliferate. Not that SJ was ever shy about risks, eh?
Get well soon O great one of the tech world.
I really hope he gets better quickly. But I’m also realistic. He’s already had a liver transplant and a Whipple procedure. He’s incredibly weak as it is. Now, he’s slipped a lot from what I’ve read just in the last 2 weeks. This could actually mean Steve is on his death bed. I hope he’s not, of course.
The way I see it, he will get better and this is a complication that will be remedied, or he is really on his death bed with a few weeks left.
Now I’m going to be worried for him everyday.
Uh oh! Time to sell Apple stock!
You people need to lay off your medical and financial speculations. You haven’t sufficient information, and you only add to the voices of panic. Apple is a very large company that succeeds because of the creative efforts of thousands of dedicated people.. Steve is undeniably a very important part of the story, but he has contributed a lot to putting together a very high-powered team who can take up the slack while he recovers in peace.
Please restrain yourselves!
The announcement scares the hell out of me.
I’m not worried about Apple. I’m sure Steve has built a good management team that is on the same page as Steve.
I’m worried about Steve and his loved ones. He has already made his dents in the universe. I selfishly want him to make many more.
Great job! keep it up.. carpet cleaning canberra
@towertone, perfectly said.
Hope for the best for SJ, you can have any of my organs for all you’ve done to make life futuristic. It’s the least I can do.
Unfortunately, I think tomorrow will show us what the Wall Street adjustment will be for Apple sans Mr. Jobs.
50%? I wouldn’t say it’s impossible.
I’ve decided to think different and remain long.
If MDN wants to start a fundraiser to battle cancer in tribute to our fearless leader I’ll be donating (will be anyway, but being there’s so much Apple good will on this site it’d be sweet to pool ourselves together to make a real difference).
I say SPARE NO EXPENSE getting Steve Jobs cured. The world needs him and his expertise and vision. Even those clueless who hate Apple and Jobs benefit indirectly by his genius by buying the inferior copycat technology (that wouldn’t exist if not for Apple and Steve Jobs).
There are few in the world we need to bow down to, that would be people like Jobs, and others like Ballmer we just want to KICK HARD in the nuts, butt and then grab by the collar and run them out of tech town on a rail. If there were any justice it would be Ballmer who would be the one who’s suffering.
Sorry I am a little angry that at the young age of 55 Steve Jobs isn’t basking in perfect health with many years ahead of treating the world to “magical” devices. With a little luck and prayer, maybe he still will. God bless Steve Jobs.
Adding my wishes for a get-well-soon. He’s a visionary and revolutionary – things we’re in short supply of. He’s got a legacy of greatness already, and Apple will carry it on. But I agree with the Disney analogy and the loss of the ‘magic’ when Walt left the party. The replacements rarely have the same impact as the founding father, and where before the world went ooh and ahh at his every word and tweet, in the future it will likely be ho and hum and ‘miss the old days’, regardless of the person at the helm.
No disrespect to the rest of Apple’s talented staff, but they are there because they can work for a personality like Steve’s, and that says something about their own. I think his ultimate replacement will almost have to come from outside in order to match his charisma and leadership and carry his vision to a new era. The good news is that Steve doesn’t create the ideas or the products, he just chooses the ones he wants to develop. Here’s hoping that whenever he is replaced, whoever replaces him will have his same talent for being right and knowing where to steer the ship next.
While it goes to remind us all how precious life is, and that nothing lasts forever, it also reminds us that even one person can change the world.
Vive la Steve!