Life after Jobs has now become a permanent reality for the world’s biggest technology company.
Steve Jobs, the co-founder and CEO of tech giant Apple Inc., announced Wednesday that he is resigning immediately after years of health problems.
Mr. Jobs relinquishes control at the height of Apple’s power, having recently briefly surpassed Exxon Mobil as the world’s most valuable listed company.
In his place, Mr. Jobs “strongly” recommended Apple install the current chief operating officer, Tim Cook, who led the company through Mr. Jobs’s medical leaves of absence and who was considered by many to be the logical successor.
Apple agreed on Wednesday to both requests.
“Steve’s extraordinary vision and leadership saved Apple and guided it to its position as the world’s most innovative and valuable technology company,” Art Levinson, chairman of Genentech, said on behalf of Apple’s board.
Few chief executives are as inextricably linked to the companies they lead as Mr. Jobs is with Apple. To many observers and fans, he isn’t just the leader of Apple, for all intents and purposes, he is Apple.
“Steve has made countless contributions to Apple’s success, and he has attracted and inspired Apple’s immensely creative employees and world class executive team.”
In his 14 years at the helm of Apple, Steve Jobs introduced the world to iconic, groundbreaking technology like iTunes, the iPod, the iPhone, the iPad, and more. Jobs has had an invaluable influence on Apple, as well as the tech industry as a whole. Jobs went on medical leave in January ceding the reins of the company to then-COO Tim Cook. Jobs isn’t actually stepping away from Apple. Can Apple even exist without Jobs as its chief?
That said, the name Steve Jobs has been synonymous with the Apple brand for more than a decade.