Apple's Jobs backtracks on health, takes leave

Chief operating officer, Tim Cook, will take over Jobs' responsibilities

AP

January 15, MSNBC

Apple Inc. co-founder and Chief Executive Steve Jobs said Wednesday he is taking a medical leave until the end of June — just a week after the cancer survivor tried to assure investors and employees his recent weight loss was caused by an easily treatable hormone deficiency.

Apple’s stock plunged 7 percent.

Jobs, 53, said in a letter last week that he would remain at Apple’s helm despite the hormone problem, and that he had already begun a “relatively simple and straightforward” treatment. But in an e-mail to employees Wednesday, Jobs backtracked.

“During the past week I have learned that my health-related issues are more complex than I originally thought,” he wrote.

Apple’s shares have surged and crashed over the last year in step with rumors or news about the CEO’s health and his gaunt appearance. While the top executive’s health is an issue for investors in any company, at Apple the level of concern reaches fever pitch because Jobs has a hand in everything from ideas for new products to the way they’re marketed. Investors fear that without Jobs, Apple will not be able to sustain its growth of the last decade, which has seen Apple branch out from its Mac computers into the iPod and the iPhone.

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photo: Apple CEO Steve Jobs is shown in this combination of file photographs. Top row, from left, shows Jobs in July 2000, November 2003 and September 2005. Bottom row, from left, shows September 2006, January 2007 and September 2008. Jobs said Wednesday he will take a medical leave of absence until the end of June because his health problems are "more complex" than he had thought (Reuters File)