Steve Jobs to take medical leave till end of June

[xytrius]

The NY Times reports that Apple Inc founder and CEO Steve Jobs will be on medical leave till the end of June:

In a letter to Apple employees released after markets closed, Mr. Jobs said that curiosity over his personal health “continues to be a distraction not only for me and my family, but everyone else at Apple as well.”

Mr. Jobs said he had asked Tim Cook, Apple’s longtime chief operating officer, to take on responsibility for Apple’s day-to-day operations. “As C.E.O., I plan to remain involved in major strategic decisions while I am out,” Mr. Jobs added. “Our board of directors fully supports this plan.”
...

Apple’s stock dropped sharply in after-hours trading.
...

Mr. Jobs, 53, released a letter just last week saying that doctors had recently diagnosed a “hormone imbalance” that was depleting proteins in his body as the cause of his weight loss. The remedy, he said, “is relatively simple and straightforward, and I’ve already begun treatment.”

Ryan Jacob, founder of the Los Angeles-based Jacob Internet Fund, which owns a stake in Apple, said the letter indicated that “his health situation is probably more serious than we thought.”

Mr. Jacob expressed disappointment that Mr. Jobs, in last week’s letter, sought to downplay the severity of his illness. “It’s disturbing. I think its going to be especially disturbing to people given the letter of last week.”

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/15/te...5apple.html?hp

[Serra]

For Jobs - Get well soon. You don't wish a cancer relapse or anything like even on your worst enemy.

For Apple - Ha! Without Jobs' "reality distortion field" to protect you you're vulnerable to market realities once again!

[STaRGaZeR]

Who cares? This is not news.

[rogard]

For Jobs - Get well soon. You don't wish a cancer relapse or anything like even on your worst enemy.

For Apple - Ha! Without Jobs' "reality distortion field" to protect you you're vulnerable to market realities once again!

they're nothing without the "reality distortion field" and the Apple Taxman

[Calmatory]

Who cares? This is not news.

Wait till iFanboy comes... You will see that at least someone cares..

[inCore]

Seeing as everybody and their grandmother has an iPod, one could see it as being relevant. "Steven Jobs" and "Apple" are synonyms.

[Quest_7F]

iCare, not. It really wont put the company back with him out of the office for a bit.

[Anavel0]

From the looks of things at Apple they've set up a good back up for the time when Steve does retire. It's going to happen some time, sooner or later. They have a lot of really well placed talent higher up, a sudden fall on its face just because Steve had to leave for a while is highly unlikely.

[Chewbenator]

Seeing as Steve Jobs completely turned Apple around from the path of bankruptcy, him leaving for any period of a time is news because it affects what the company does at a fundamental level.

[nunchucka]

shares in apple dropped 10% after this was made public, just go's to show how pathetic the stock market is doesnt it.... steve went for a quiet crap in the mens toilet, came out and his company was bankrupt....

[FischOderAal]

shares in apple dropped 10% after this was made public, just go's to show how pathetic the stock market is doesnt it.... steve went for a quiet crap in the mens toilet, came out and his company was bankrupt....

Exactly. I'd say there's barely another big company that depends so strong on one person only, no matter how big his influence really is. If you ask me Apple will still do good without Mr.Jobs (though history might repeat, who knows?!).

They should've taken precautions some time ago and made his resign slowly. Although Microsoft didn't depend that much on Bill Gates, at least there wasn't such a person-cult around him, I think they handled Billy's resign better.

His achievements are as arguable as his character, but let's not again rape a thread with fanboy-rants

This post was created on a MacBook and is valid without signature.

[inCore]

IKEA also relied heavily on one person, on Ingvar Kamprad. They feared that his resignation would bring down the whole company. The man visited every new IKEA location that was opened and took the time to control most, if not all, new products available. Kamprad stepped back a few years ago I believe and it hasn't made a difference, there's often a lot more scare than necessary.

The main difference here was that Kamprad also refused to introduce the concept of stocks and shares so only another type of financial downhill was possible.

[Hornet331]

Seeing as Steve Jobs completely turned Apple around from the path of bankruptcy, him leaving for any period of a time is news because it affects what the company does at a fundamental level.

Without the money for MS even steve jobs wouldn't have saved apple from bankruptcy.

[Papu]

I take no joy seeing anybody in bad health but I still hate the guy.

[iTravis]

I take no joy seeing anybody in bad health but I still hate the guy.

Judging from your sig I can tell
I heard Steve Wozniak was the one who did all the code, Steve Jobs is not a programmer but he sure knows how to drive Apple to success as a CEO.

[saveus222]

shares in apple dropped 10% after this was made public, just go's to show how pathetic the stock market is doesnt it.... steve went for a quiet crap in the mens toilet, came out and his company was bankrupt....

[Chruschef]

i'd love to be able to say all you guys are crazy for hating macs, but its true. steve jobs did kind of pick a fight with the microsoft guys with those TV commercials...

but, i love my apple products.... apple has definitely had some major flops, and sometimes their QC ain't that great. the genius bar is terrible to, definitely not geniuses for the most part.

... i hope jobs gets better though, i love my macintosh based products.

(as well as my windows)

[Brother Esau]

Why such reverence and hatred towards APPLE?

APPLE and Steve Jobs brought you all what you have today. It was APPLE that Pioneered the Personal Computer and Consumer Computer not Microsoft.

What is the matter with MAC? Outside of the Price (Which is High) to buy and not build then I vote for APPLE not a Micro$ PC

As far as Steve Jobs goes I think its terrible what that man and his family are going through. Pancreatic Cancer is a Certain Killer not much hope generally with that one, but I suppose with the Money Steve Jobs has and the fact his is a Icon Pioneer he might get through it .........One can only hope.

[Aivas47a]

From what I've read Jobs' original cancer was a rare type that's different (better) than the usual kind of certain-death pancreatic cancer. Anyway it seems his current problem isn't cancer recurrence but hormone problems caused by losing the big hunk of pancreas they had to remove before.

[ownage]

Wait till iFanboy comes... You will see that at least someone cares..

For people interested in Apple this is news. I'm sure there are plenty of people, even on XS using Apple products. And being a fanboy isn't a bad thing as long as they don't bash other products or claim there favorite brand is the best.

I take no joy seeing anybody in bad health but I still hate the guy.

You're pathetic lol. Why hate a guy because he makes products. I can understand if you don't like apple products. I don't like them either, but why would I hate the guy?

From what I've read Jobs' original cancer was a rare type that's different (better) than the usual kind of certain-death pancreatic cancer. Anyway it seems his current problem isn't cancer recurrence but hormone problems caused by losing the big hunk of pancreas they had to remove before.

From what I've read he will be fine within a few months. Or not?