Steve Jobs is taking a leave of absence from Apple due to health reasons

Apple has issued a statement saying that Steve Jobs is taking a leave of absence due to health reasons. Steve Jobs sent out a letter to Apple employees today saying that his previously-explained health problems are "more complex" than he at first thought, and that he plans to return in June. In the meantime Steve will be around for major strategic decisions, and Tim Cook (Apple's Chief Operating Officer) will take over the day-to-day in his absence. AAPL is down around 8% in after hours trading. The full letter is below:

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

This honestly comes as quite a surprise, especially given that Jobs just recently issued that note which seemed to be aimed at quelling fears of this exact situation bubbling up. In that letter -- sent just last week -- Jobs stated that a hormone imbalance was to cause for a recent noticeable weight loss, but that the ailment was being treated in a "relatively simple and straightforward" manner. This clearly calls that info out, and raises a number of questions about whether or not Apple and Jobs knew there was something more serious happening. Of course, this story puts the latest exclamation mark in a sentence strewn with flare-ups of news over Jobs' health which began with his gaunt appearance at last year's WWDC. Though Jobs battled pancreatic cancer in 2004, as far as we know he has been free of the disease since a complicated surgery known as the "whipple procedure," and this latest statement makes no connection otherwise.

One note of interest is that this isn't the first time Tim Cook has taken the reins at Apple. He held the spot in 2004 while Jobs was treated for and recovered from the aforementioned cancer.

Whatever the current case may be, here's hoping Jobs has a speedy recovery -- though what Apple's future looks like after this is anyone's guess.

Here's a quick little gallery of Steve Jobs' progression over the past three WWDCs:

Gallery: Steve Jobs at WWDC '06, '07 and '08

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[Nik @ Jan 14th 2009 4:41PM]

oh boy...

[Nik @ Jan 14th 2009 4:49PM]

TUAW has the letter..
http://www.tuaw.com/2009/01/14/steve-jobs-takes-medical-leave-of-absence-until-june/

[Christopher K. @ Jan 14th 2009 4:51PM]

Johan, you're an idiot. You'd think (well, YOU wouldn't) that people may have some sort of candor when talking about someone's health problems. Instead of trying to tear someone down, perhaps you should instead offer support, or better yet, not say anything. You are probably not even cognizant (look it up) of the fact that he had a rare form of cancer a few years back that he was told he would never recover from. Now he has recovered, but obviously has some other health scare and we don't need people like you being such a jerk about it.

[Flashpoint @ Jan 14th 2009 4:55PM]

I HOPE he gets better.

I need him to reinvent that car stereo, the television and my socks.

[Johan S @ Jan 14th 2009 4:56PM]

Now they're going to have to call Woz back from his harem for these six months.

[Totalfixation @ Jan 14th 2009 4:57PM]

@Johan S

Please have some respect. Regardless of whether you like Apple or not, making a sarcastic remark like that is a little shameful.


On another side note, I hope it's nothing serious, but for some reason i saw something like this coming.

[Nilay Patel @ Jan 14th 2009 5:00PM]

@Johan S: Banned. Don't be a dick about people's health.

And you're on thin ice, Flashpoint.

[Testies, Testies, 1, 2... 3? @ Jan 14th 2009 5:07PM]

Flash, you got highly ranked once before for saying that, don't push your luck...

[From My Cube @ Jan 14th 2009 5:08PM]

regardless of your OS of choice, we all need him, his vision and products have turned MS on its head and has provided us all with a better computing environment...


I wish him well and hope that he has a speedy and relaxed recovery...take your time Steve

[Ray @ Jan 14th 2009 5:09PM]

He's been looking pretty bad. I don't like apple much, but I wish him the best!

[nerdtalker @ Jan 14th 2009 5:13PM]

Poor guy. I hope it gets better, regardless.

[CubeGuy @ Jan 14th 2009 5:14PM]

@Flashpoint

He's already done every one of those things with iPod, iTV, and Nike.

@Nilay

I thought it was amusing, all things considered. =C

[zargon @ Jan 14th 2009 5:16PM]

I think people are over reacting over Johan S's comment, but then again it is probably targeted at those people in the first place. It seems to be directed at the people that over react with any Jobs and even Apple news, not making fun of his health.

I also find this news interesting, especially with the recent rumors buzzing around about the very subject. I have a feeling the news about his health is not recent, but that is what they are saying to cover up their previous statements.

[ILoveApple @ Jan 14th 2009 5:17PM]

Johan's comment made me laugh, as did Flashpoint's. I can see why you would ban Johan but why put Flashpoint on thin ice? His comment wasn't offensive as far as I'm concerned...

I wonder if anyone would make such a fuss if Olli-Pekka Kalashnikov died...

[sacapuntas @ Jan 14th 2009 5:21PM]

Hello people! Jobs has beaten cancer once and I genuinely hope he get's better, but I fear that the cancer has returned. That would be the worst case scenario, although it looks to be a very real possibility. =(

[Michael @ Jan 14th 2009 5:19PM]

*Agrees with everyone who reckons Johan S is a douchebag*

As a Windows user, XBOX player, AND Iphone/ipod owner.. i'm neutral in saying this. From ANY point of view, its NOT nice to laugh at people being sick.

Lets just hope Karma is real after all.....

Also... @ Flashpoint... good post, you made me laugh :)

[oh.ppie @ Jan 14th 2009 5:23PM]

@ ArticFox,

He was not banned for making fun of Apple.

He was making fun of a person's health condition.

Theres a huge difference.

Were not dealing with companies right now, were dealing with a human life.

[Esteban @ Jan 14th 2009 5:24PM]

@Johan

Look man, just ignore everybody that is freaking out about the comment that you just made. It seems that everybody is too stupid to realize that you were speaking not about Steve Jobs, but the media that always blows everything out of proportion when news has anything to do with him. (Not to mention the fact that he clearly wants people to stay out of his personal life, made very clear by his letters.) Johan was simply trying to illustrate the pathetic general public that invades "important people's" lives...

[saitir @ Jan 14th 2009 5:44PM]

To Paul Chapel:

Yes Steve Jobs bought Pixar, but Pixar (selling high end imaging computers) was a flop as Jobs intended it (pretty much as all of his non-Apple projects were). It wasn't until it was failing that it started pushing towards making movies. In fact if you look at the history of Pixar, its really John Lasseter who was initially just making demos to show off the hardware who really made Pixar what it was.

[Stefan @ Jan 14th 2009 5:57PM]

Wtf ?

Johan S.'s Comment did not deserve a ban unless the person who banned him is a total fanboy who does not understand sarcasm . Now go ahead , ban me too ,because i"m not coming back here.

[Ben Grimsbo @ Jan 14th 2009 6:18PM]

I don't think Johan was being a dick about his health so much as he was being a dick towards people who jump the gun and assume the worst instead of trying to look at things in a logical way. Like the stock market people. When they heard Steve was sick, they sold tons of shares, assuming he was about to leave the company due to health reasons. Plummeted the stock a large number of points.

That said... I wish Steve the best...

[willyboy @ Jan 14th 2009 6:54PM]

@Paul Chapel

Ladies and Gentlemen, Paul Chapel. Zune Tang's Alter Ego

[Saad @ Jan 14th 2009 8:14PM]

@ Nilay

Let jerks be jerks. Banning people and then calling them a "dick" is not a nice thing to do.

Don't be that guy.

[CraigJ @ Jan 14th 2009 8:50PM]

FYI the original offensive post was removed, the one that is still up is not why he was banned.

[truth.seeker @ Jan 14th 2009 9:04PM]

TUAW or not, this just proves that the rumors from anonboard.com were true all along.

[jj @ Jan 14th 2009 9:56PM]

unless you have it shut up i feel better now then 20 years ago but you can't stop thinking about it 7 days a week for over 2 years it never leaves your mind never never never never never never never never#####

[Oscar @ Jan 15th 2009 1:11AM]

Is he going to die before they release the iMed? That would have saved his life...

[CDC @ Jan 17th 2009 9:57PM]

Man...
He's one of my 2 favorite celebrities and now he's sick.

(Come on Michael Jackson.... world tour...world tour...world tour....!!!)

Hope Steve gets better. Very innovative man.

[Mike Vaia @ Jan 14th 2009 4:41PM]

Wow... didn't see that one coming...

[Homeboy @ Jan 14th 2009 4:49PM]

Me neither. I think it has to do with too little Microsoft in his diet and too much Apple's in his salads.

[arash @ Jan 14th 2009 4:52PM]

yeah thats because im saving restore points

[lucas @ Jan 14th 2009 5:25PM]

don't know why you didn't. i am more shocked that he didn't just go on leave when he was forced to admit to the nosy ones in the media that he had a problem. heck when I saw that note, I figured he was on leave. hell I figured it was so when he wasn't doing the keynote at Macworld.

what is interesting to note is that Steve will still be a player in major decisions. sounds to me like he'll be at home resting up (or perhaps in a hospital for the first few weeks) and ichatting daily with the boys at the office to keep up with what's going on. no biggie.

[Victor @ Jan 14th 2009 5:00PM]

certainly not...

[Kevin Gass @ Jan 14th 2009 5:07PM]

You're probably right lucas. I bet he was on leave and just told the Press that last week so it wouldnt effect CES.

[Ellianth @ Jan 14th 2009 6:18PM]

@Kevin: does apple even attend CES?

[Jake B @ Jan 14th 2009 7:07PM]

I did! BOOYA JOBS!

[D3V89 @ Jan 14th 2009 4:42PM]

OMG say it's not true!!

(This is not directed to the man, just to the site)

[glenskey @ Jan 14th 2009 4:55PM]

say it aint' so paul !

[Kevin @ Jan 14th 2009 4:42PM]

It is no surprise, but I still said, "wow."

[Metkis @ Jan 14th 2009 4:42PM]

I never thought it would get so serious... and so fast.

[Garnaal @ Jan 14th 2009 4:42PM]

This sure came out of nowhere..!

[Skeezle @ Jan 14th 2009 4:42PM]

that's concerning...

[loocas @ Jan 14th 2009 5:06PM]

I believe you spelled the second word wrongly...

[Greg K @ Jan 18th 2009 4:18PM]

I believe you spelt 'spelt' as 'spelled'

[Daren @ Jan 14th 2009 4:42PM]

just saw it on fox news. Television beat yall on tech news. shocked the hell out of me.

[miko34 @ Jan 14th 2009 4:44PM]

Fox News is still on television?

[Daren @ Jan 14th 2009 4:53PM]

#1 in amount of viewers among cable news stations.
They have better news anchors.(don't really care for their opinion columnists shows- IE: Bill O', H&C, ect..) CNN's are like zombies, and MSNBC doesn't know the difference between news anchor and commentator. Cavuto is talking non-stop about this story right now.

Dont want to turn this into a political thing... back on topic.

[Crazy Liberal @ Jan 14th 2009 4:56PM]

Well, if it came from fox news then I wouldn't be so sure about it's legitimacy. I mean seriously, fox news. That's like asking your grandma if apple is coming out with a new mac mini anytime soon. Not a good idea.

[Flunky Carter @ Jan 14th 2009 4:58PM]

Oh this story broke on Fox News. Then it must NOT be true.

[haX0r @ Jan 14th 2009 5:00PM]

"Dont want to turn this into a political thing"....but you have an anti Obama avatar. Duh!

Fox News is like a Craigslist hooker, not real pretty or true.