Business

Apple CEO Steve Jobs Takes Medical Leave of Absence

NEW YORK (AP) — Apple Inc. founder and CEO Steve Jobs sent a note Monday to employees saying he’s taking a medical leave of absence so he can focus on his health.

He says he will continue as CEO and be involved in major decisions but has asked chief operating officer Tim Cook to be responsible for all day-to-day operations.

Jobs says he loves Apple and hopes to be back as soon as he can. He says he and his family would appreciate respect for their privacy.

Cook took the company reins when Jobs, a pancreatic cancer survivor, went on medical leave from January through June 2009.

It was Cook’s second stint leading Apple. Cook, who joined Apple in 1998, ran the Cupertino, Calif.-based company for two months in 2004 while Jobs recovered from surgery for pancreatic cancer. His performance then won him the promotion to chief operating officer in 2005.

Analysts credit Cook with solving problems that Apple was having with inventory management. Many people consider Cook as Jobs’ logical successor.

Under Cook’s direction in 2009, the company kept cranking out well-received products including updated laptops with lower entry-level prices and a faster iPhone with many longed-for features. Apple sold more than a million of the new iPhone 3GS during its first three days on the market.

Comments (30)

  • TRUTHSEEKINGAL
    Posted on January 17, 2011 at 10:56pm

    May the Hand of God be upon you Mr. Jobs,and healing be His will. You have been a shining example of free market success,through hard work and enduring perserverance .

    Report Post » TRUTHSEEKINGAL  
  • dontbotherme
    Posted on January 17, 2011 at 10:21pm

    Mr. Jobs: May God bless you & your family. Thank you for helping so many people earn a living with the work you have done with your life. Our prayers are with you.

    Report Post »  
  • Ron Staiger
    Posted on January 17, 2011 at 5:48pm

    Did anyone else hear what that moron, Shepard Smith, had to say about this announcement? I think he belongs on MSNBC!

    Report Post »  
  • MidwestMomof3
    Posted on January 17, 2011 at 2:48pm

    Steve Jobs is an American success story not only on the business-side of his life, but as one of the *few* pancreatic cancer survivors. Having seen the terrible cost of that disease first-hand, I can only hope his medical leave has nothing to do with his cancer reappearing.

    Prayers for Mr. Jobs. Similar to what GrandmaOf5 said, I can’t afford his product but know many people who love theirs! ((My mom was a *HUGE* Apple fan before she passed!))

    Report Post » MidwestMomof3  
  • butler180
    Posted on January 17, 2011 at 1:46pm

    GOD Bless him and wishing him a speedy recovery.

    Report Post » butler180  
  • SFconservative
    Posted on January 17, 2011 at 12:59pm

    Jobs is one of our greatest entrepreneurs. He is the guy most silicon valley startup founders most aspire to emulate. I pray for his recovery. We need our heros.

    Report Post »  
  • poverty.sucks
    Posted on January 17, 2011 at 11:33am

    Mr jobs in pray that god is in your life.

    I feel that his thoughts have always been, We’ll be better than Microsoft & Dell, even if it kills me.

    Apple is an American success story almost squished out of the market by Bill Gates and Microsoft. Strength and determination they’ve developed revolutionary products.

    Thank you Mr Jobs

    P.S. Mean people suck

    Report Post » poverty.sucks  
  • rfycom
    Posted on January 17, 2011 at 11:32am

    Say what you want about Jobs and Apple. All I can tell you is we need more people like him.

    Report Post »  
  • Cabo King
    Posted on January 17, 2011 at 11:18am

    god luck steve, my prayers are with you

    Report Post » Cabo King  
  • FED-UP-AND-READY-TO-TAKE-ACTION
    Posted on January 17, 2011 at 11:07am

    With all that is going on stocks is not on my mind but ea to his own, I am more interested in gas, food, family safety, bullets, gold, silver, remote land, portable generators, gardening tools, hunting traps and tools.

    I am putting all my “stocks” money into the above list as we have all seen how stocks come and go, BUT HEY EA TO HIS OWN.

    Hope you all get very very rich……………………all that paper money will maybe buy you a loaf of old bread in the near future…………………..VICTORY OR DEATH

    Report Post » FED-UP-AND-READY-TO-TAKE-ACTION  
  • 1TrueOne55
    Posted on January 17, 2011 at 11:05am

    This will be his last leave of absence. When you look at all the others who have had this form of cancer when they openly talk about it they don’t live much longer… I pray that his family is left to grieve in their own way and that we can rely on the Company he founded with others will continue to make great strides in the technology world.

    The Company should have learned from the first time they fired Steve Jobs and how that affected the company. When you rely only on one man’s vision of the future and how to get there then you limit your ability to go past his death.

    Report Post » 1TrueOne55  
    • Oh, God!
      Posted on January 17, 2011 at 11:20am

      And when they fired him, the brand tanked. When they brought him back on board, after all he is the founder of Apple, he focused on reestablishing why Apple was so good. I use nothing but a mac and never will. Their prices have come down drastically in the last 15 years which has made it more affordable for people like me to purchase one. I am in graphic design, so a mac is the only way to go.

      Prayers to him and his family.

      Report Post » Oh, God!  
    • firstHat
      Posted on January 17, 2011 at 4:15pm

      @Oh, God!
      Not only did they come down in price, they began to build machines I‘d want that I couldn’t build myself more cheaply. Yup, great for graphics, great for web building and development and pretty darned dependable too.

      Report Post »  
  • GeauxAlready
    Posted on January 17, 2011 at 10:52am

    Guy has not been well for years now. Praying for ya………….

    Report Post » SpankDaMonkey  
  • FED-UP-AND-READY-TO-TAKE-ACTION
    Posted on January 17, 2011 at 10:35am

    This is Blaze News………?????

    Report Post » FED-UP-AND-READY-TO-TAKE-ACTION  
    • snowleopard3200 {cat folk art}
      Posted on January 17, 2011 at 10:44am

      I like the Blaze showing stories such as this, for it gives more of a human side compared to most of the liberal and progressive news sights and hosts. It also allows us to see what changes, though they may seem small at any one time, are going on in the world and the nation.

      Whoever next leads Apple will have major decisions to be made, for the good or bad of the company, and come what may, I wish them luck.

      http://www.artinphoenix.com/gallery/grimm

      Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
    • MAULEMALL
      Posted on January 17, 2011 at 10:45am

      Yes it is numbnuts… A stock that was ready to blow off the roof even more could slide since the guy who caused all the success is slowing down his input…

      Big news you ignorant schmuck

      Report Post » MAULEMALL  
    • demint.disciple
      Posted on January 17, 2011 at 10:45am

      @ FED-UP.. Umm, Just wondering.. After reading the headline out in he lobby why did you still feel the need to click on in and read the story ? IDK, when I pick up a paper and I see a non story (to me) I don’t read it anyway and then say, Hey this news ?? nope, I skip over the the next story that I’m “interested ” in..
      Cheers..

      Report Post » one years food ration like glenn says  
    • chickenlittle
      Posted on January 17, 2011 at 10:49am

      as much as I think there are plenty of Blaze stories not worth appearing on this site, yes I think this is Blaze news. It’s major financial news for which way major companies are heading.

      That said though, it is certainly “stale” news, in that it has been over the wire for a days now, and not news per sé at all. I really think the Blaze could do better than quote dated AP stories for a supposedly “journalistic” site. Hopefully, it means that Seidl is out taking English or Journalism classes and needs to fill some space on here.

      Report Post » chickenlittle  
    • Outside Looking In
      Posted on January 17, 2011 at 10:51am

      Oh,yes indeedy!

      The Blaze is looking to replace The New York Times as the main source of news for folks like us.
      (Not that any of us ever really bother with the NYT.)

      Just give The Blaze a little time to catch its stride.

      Report Post »  
    • grandmaof5
      Posted on January 17, 2011 at 10:53am

      I will pray for Jobs’ return to health and the office. Can’t afford his product but my son and daughter love theirs.

      Report Post »  
    • demint.disciple
      Posted on January 17, 2011 at 11:01am

      @MAULEMALL.. There is no need for the insults… That’s a tactic of the left.. You could‘ve said what you said WITHOUT the insults remove all the insults and it would’ve been the same…

      Yes it is … A stock that was ready to blow off the roof even more could slide since the guy who caused all the success is slowing down his input…
      Big news ..
      Doesn’t that sound better ?

      Report Post » one years food ration like glenn says  
    • middleclassprophet
      Posted on January 17, 2011 at 11:21am

      -demint.disciple-

      Please, insults come from both sides of the isle. Thinking otherwise shows quite a bit of ignorance.

      Report Post » middleclassprophet  
    • chickenlittle
      Posted on January 17, 2011 at 11:36am

      @ MIDDLE I agree with DEMINT… doesn’t mean your posts have to reflect ridicule. I fail to see some rational criticism as ignorant as you say, and I myself don‘t see any partisan intent on DEMINT’s comment other than to say (rightfully) that it’s much more a sneering tactic on the far left lately.

      Report Post » chickenlittle  
    • middleclassprophet
      Posted on January 17, 2011 at 12:03pm

      -chickenlittle-

      Well then we agree to disagree. Simply ask an independent or swing voter where they think the insults come more from. You can’t tell me that Palin, Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck, Bill O. and such insult LESS than Maddow, Matthews, Keith O. and Schultz. The mud-slinging started with “Palling around with Terrorists” and elevated to levels on BOTH sides. It should be obvious to everyone who follows politics.

      Report Post » middleclassprophet  
    • @leftfighter
      Posted on January 17, 2011 at 12:54pm

      This is one of the largest companies in the US that has a major impact on the economy.

      When Jobs is on the job, Apple is profitable, when he’s not, it’s still profitable but not quite as much.

      Yeah, it’s news.

      Report Post » @leftfighter  
    • Ron_WA
      Posted on January 17, 2011 at 1:53pm

      Yes this is news. Jobs is one the most innovative capitalists of the past century. Despite some flaws he is instrumentally responsible for making this Nation prosperous.

      Report Post » Ron_WA  
    • avenger
      Posted on January 17, 2011 at 4:56pm

      I hope he makes it….it is only $$$ that kept him alive to get the BEST treatment available.Go Steve!

      Report Post »  
    • mcfinch
      Posted on February 17, 2011 at 4:16pm

      This will be a big impact on the tech companies.

      http://politicalbowl.com

      Report Post » mcfinch  

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