Steve Jobs takes medical leave from Apple
Steve Jobs has taken an extended leave of absence in order to recover from complex health problems.
Jobs has frequently been the subject of health-related rumours ever since he underwent surgery to remove a pancreatic tumour in 2004. While Jobs' tumour was a less aggressive type than in many forms of pancreatic cancer, the Apple CEO has continued to be hounded by gossip.
Earlier this month rumours flared up again when Jobs said that he had lost massive amounts of weight due to a hormone imbalance, but refused to comment any further than that. The increasingly private Jobs admitted that he did not even want to reveal that much information in fact, which is understandable.
Jobs' statement that was released today however says that the health problems are "more complex than originally thought" and it that it is now important for him to take some extended sick leave. He will not be returning to the job until the end of June.
Until that time the Apple co-founder has left the company in the hands of Apple COO Tim Cook, who will handle the day-to-day runnings of the company until such time as Jobs can return.
The statement refuses to go into any more detail about Jobs' health problems, nor what should happen if more time off is required. Analysts currently estimate that Jobs' departure could lower Apple's total worth by at least 20 percent, so the company is obviously keen to keep a lid on rumours.
The only thing that it remains to say then is; Get well soon, Steve. Pass on your own thoughts and comments in the forums.
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Discuss in the forums ReplyThey fired him once and ran fine without him then - Why is it such a big deal that he's taking a few months off now?
It's not like we didn't know he was ill :/
if his pancreas has suddenly died on him, then he's going to need insulin and if he's not getting any, then his muscles will wither away, causing a quick weight loss (commonly seen in people just after getting type 1 diabetes)
HE HAS THE DIABEETUS!
I think you should respect the guy a bit more than that, and not act like a dick.
here that someone is ill is one thing, if anything it can spawn sympathy towards poor steve.
Cancer isn't a nice thing, and when you think you have got it beat, there's nothing worse than being told or realising your ill again.
I can tell you first hand that cancer is the one illness that haunts me and that I'd never wish anyone - friend or foe - to have to go through. I witnessed it first hand for the last two years with my late wife - it's quite simply the most evil and unforgiving disease I ever hope to have to see in action. We called it the b*stard, because that's probably the best way to describe it without getting too graphic or offensive.
I hope Steve comes through whatever it is that's wrong with him this time. It could be that he's no longer in remission or it could be something else entirely - we don't know and I'm certainly not going to sit here and speculate.
Having lost my father to cancer and seeing my just on rehab after the 3rd brain tumor in less than 5 years taken out I think everybody who has to go through that **** deserves a boat load of sympathy. If you then get something else afterwards like good ol' Steve did he/she deserves some silent time without pressure from anyone to fully recover.
Let that man get better! Apple can live without him but he's Apple's face, been that for quite some time as well so it'll hit them pretty hard if he leaves. Let's see what happens next. As long as we don't know anything let's just leave it be.
stock dropped 7%, so yeah some hedge fund just made a crazy amount of cash!
For those who wish him ill health or try and slag him off personally your idiots you should go end your life now for the benefit of human kind.
By the way short selling hardly affects stocks, its just what people like to believe. Fact of the matter is it didnt affect the banks at all and they still kept on crashing after it was banned from the FTSE like when HBOS went down everyone said it was short selling but a year earlier it was running at 5% of transactions and when it did go down it was running at 7%.
if apple is a story of anything, it isn't so much a story of computer innovation but the power of properly used marketing tools.
we all owe this man something whether we like it or not, because the affordable apple pcs gave rise to the homebuilt pc's we use today, I for one wish him well.
and to those of you acting like Asses, have some decency and courtesy.
Seriously, Joe? You're glad that someone else is suffering from bad medical issues? Uncool.
But seriously, I wish him well. I would love to see him failing on the market, but not due to health issues.
wow.... I can't stand Steve Jobs and I find that incredibly offensive... he got over cancer, which is an incredible achievement, and convinced millions to buy his companies crappy products (an even bigger achievement).
The stupidest thing he is doing now is not appointing a successor, unlike when Gates left microsoft (you barely noticed him leaving), it will be a big deal when he either dies or actually decides to leave, which will dump their stock like crazy.
Whatever his current health issues are "they are his issues".
Most people cannot conceive of what a terminal illness or a major failing of the body does to one's mind. Cancer, changes in lifestyle, the inability of the body to cooperate are serious personal issues.
Leave him be.
I wish him a better future than I face.
john
My condolences. I have lost both friends and family to this disease. I only hope that someday the world can find a cure so that we don't have to see our loved ones suffer from this indiscriminate killer.
Then again this is a pretty obvious stratedgy as the whole consumer electronics segment is falling, even Sony just posted a loss