Jobs Goes On Leave Of Absence

Merv | 15 Jan 2009 - Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, has taken medical leave until the end of June to focus on his highly speculated health issues. Earlier this month, Steve told the Apple community of a hormone inbalance problem which has been causing him to lose weight. As it turns out, it’s more complex than that and so he has decided to take time off to focus on his health. Tim Cook will fill in for the time being. His letter to Apple employess, as published in DailyTech, states:

Team,

I am sure all of you saw my letter last week sharing something very personal with the Apple community. Unfortunately, the curiosity over my personal health continues to be a distraction not only for me and my family, but everyone else at Apple as well. In addition, during the past week I have learned that my health-related issues are more complex than I originally thought.

In order to take myself out of the limelight and focus on my health, and to allow everyone at Apple to focus on delivering extraordinary products, I have decided to take a medical leave of absence until the end of June.

I have asked Tim Cook to be responsible for Apple’s day to day operations, and I know he and the rest of the executive management team will do a great job. As CEO, I plan to remain involved in major strategic decisions while I am out. Our board of directors fully supports this plan.

I look forward to seeing all of you this summer.

Steve

According to another news report, the price of Apple’s stock plunged 6.29 percent to 79.96 dollars in after-hours trading following the announcement.