Steve Jobs is one
of the founding figures of the modern computer
industry. He has twice run Apple: once from its
creation in 1976 until he was ousted in 1985,
and again, 20 years later, when he returned to
rescue a company on the brink of collapse.
Turning the company around and presiding over
the release of one hit product after another,
from the iMac and iPod, through to the iPhone
and iPad, is perhaps Jobs’s greatest
achievement.
Eleven years ago,
another of the modern computer industry’s
founders, Bill Gates, stepped aside from his
role as chief executive of the company he had
founded. However, Gates’s resignation came in
happier circumstances. The Microsoft chief
executive planned to work instead on his
charitable foundation.
In contrast, Steve
Jobs, in a letter to the Apple board, said that
he is resigning because he “could no longer meet
my duties and expectations as CEO”. In 2004,
Jobs announced that he had pancreatic cancer,
and in 2009 he underwent a liver transplant. At
the beginning of this year, he went on medical
leave again. This, then, is how Steve Jobs’s
third medical leave of absence ends: with Jobs
replaced by Tim Cook, who was until yesterday,
acting CEO, and Jobs serving as Chairman.
Each time Jobs went
on medical leave it was Cook who took over, so
this decision should not be a surprise. With
Cook at the helm Apple has continued to release
products and to grow in a way has astounded
investors. Early reaction from investors and
analysts suggests that the market will greet the
news calmly.