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:

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

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 15th 2009 10:29PM]

If Steve Jobs has hyperthyroidism (and he looks like he might), he could find his answer on ithyroid.com. I started this website in 1998 after recovering from hyperthyroidism and have detailed the nutritional protocol necessary for recovery from this disease.

While the established medical world still has no clue about what causes this disease, I discovered in 1998 that hyperthyroidism is a nutritional deficiency disease that is easily corrected, enabling sufferers to return to complete health and avoid the damaging medical treatments of radioactive iodine (RAI) or surgery.

Anyone interested in a summary of my work can read Chapter 10 of Mary Shomon's book, "Living Well with Graves' Disease and Hyperthyroidism." Mary is the world's most popular author of books on thyroid disease. My web site, ithyroid.com, gives more detailed information and has helped thousands of people to recover from this devastating disease.

John

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 15th 2009 11:23PM]

my guess is he's having thyroid storms. my brother had them about 15 years ago...he got REALLY skinny and it was really scary...

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 16th 2009 12:22AM]

Its funny that I am constantly reading about complaints of some people about CEO"s salaries.
Now I see the praises of SJ and how much they appreciate what he has done for the public.
All CEO's do exactly the same thing, they try to guide their companies into succesful ones, some do and some don't but its a tough job and they do deserve the money hey get. None of the complainers coul do the job and none are suited to untie the shoes of any one of them.

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 16th 2009 12:32AM]

COME OUT COME OUT WHERE EVER U ARE....WOZ!

[G I Posted Jan 16th 2009 6:06AM]

Next Apple product: iLifeSupport

[solarbuddy Posted Jan 17th 2009 1:46AM]

Now I'm worried that Steve won't get around to doing for the hearing-aid industry what he did for the MP3 player (minus the DRM, of course). My audiologist looked at me and with a straight face told me that I needed devices *each* of which cost more than a brand-new Volkswagen (1970 prices). For that hope alone I hope he hangs in there a few more years.

[(Unverified) Posted Jan 18th 2009 12:03AM]

Goodbye Apple, I loved you so.