The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Feeds

Steve Jobs takes 'medical leave of absence' from Apple

Cupertino boss hopes to return soon

Apple CEO Steve Jobs told staff at the company today that he was taking a "medical leave of absence".

He did not reveal specifics about why he had been given time off from the Mac and iPhone maker.

"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," he told employees in an email.

"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."

Earlier this month Apple advised its shareholders to vote against a proposal to reveal a “succession-planning policy” for the company’s CEO.

"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," said Jobs.

The Apple boss returned from medical leave in June 2009 after receiving a life-saving liver transplant. ®

Get well soon

Seriously guys, its probally a recurrance of his cancer, I mean for gods sake, hate his products if you will, but at least try to remind yourselves, your members of the human race once in a while!

26
2

His battery-

Is not user replaceable.

24
0

Absolutely agree.

However, that's kinda not the point. Steve Jobs is two entities - he is a private individual, one of 6.8 billion on the planet, in which capacity it's sad that he's ill, but I'm not going to pretend he deserves any more of my time or emotions than any one of the other 6.8 billion people who I have never met, and never will meet, when they get sick and, eventually, die.

In his other persona, he is the boss of a company in the industry I've worked in for thirty years. And as such, my immediate response is *always* going to be "How does this impact my industry, my working practices, my finances."

Sorry if anyone finds that offensive, it's just the way of the world. If you want to fly out to Cupertino and lay a bunch of flowers on his grave, be my guest, although personally I'd rather you didn't unless you actually know him personally and are grieving for him, rather than the horribly mawkish way we have developed since St. Diana died of projecting our un-expressed grief from people we do know onto celebrities who we don't know.

GJC

20
2

Hmmm

Maybe he was holding it incorrectly!

15
0

Title

Some classy comments here, nothing funnier than a man struggling to fight cancer eh?

Nice one.

16
3

More from The Register

Android is a mess and needs sprucing up, admits chief
Can Google really fix it? It isn't in control any more
New Lumia 925: This, loyalists, is the BIG ONE you've waited for
Nokia veep drills high-end master plan for El Reg
Android device? Ooohhhh, you mean a Samsung phone
Koreans nabbed nearly all the Q1 profits – more even than Google
Review: HP Pavilion 14 Chromebook
All roads lead to Chrome?
Borked your iDevice? Pay EVEN MORE to have it fixed by Applecare
Or scream at their hapless techies on their forums
Euro PC shipments plummet into bottomless pit of DOOOOM
11th quarter of decline, 20pc drop on last year - Gartner
Report: AT&T dropping Facebook phone after dismal sales
Turns out folks won't buy that for a dollar