Steve Jobs Resigns As Apple CEO; Tim Cook Takes Helm

The title says it all fellas; its end of an era at Apple Inc. as Steve Jobs retired and stepped down from his position as CEO of the company and Tim Cook, Apple’s chief operating officer, has been named to take the helm, Apple announced Wednesday.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who transformed the company he started at age 21 from a personal-computer also-ran into the world’s largest technology company, resigned Wednesday amid a battle with cancer that led to a liver transplant in 2009. And he had been on health leave for most part of 2011 and had appeared for iPad 2 launch on stage for a brief period.

Steve Jobs’ Retirement as Apple CEO

“I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come,” Steve Jobs said in a brief letter announcing his resignation.

Jobs has been elected chairman of Apple’s board, effective immediately, and Cook has been made a board member, the statement said. Cook, 50, who has led Apple’s day-to-day operations since January and during Jobs’ previous leave, will join the board. Apple shares dived as much as 7 percent in after-hours trade after this announcement.

“Steve’s extraordinary vision and leadership saved Apple and guided it to its position as the world’s most innovative and valuable technology company,” said Art Levinson, Chairman of Genentech, on behalf of Apple’s Board.

“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 new role as Chairman of the Board, Steve will continue to serve Apple with his unique insights, creativity and inspiration”, Levinson went ahead to add.

“Steve Jobs is on my ‘eternal heroes’ list,’’ said Bob Metcalfe, who founded computer networking giant 3Com Corp. and is now a general partner at Polaris Venture Partners in Waltham. “He did what he set out to do: create insanely great products. And he did it his way.’’

Under Jobs, Apple became the second-most valuable company in the world, after Exxon Mobil, by introducing devices that revolutionized the computer, mobile phone and digital music industries.

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His attention to detail and emphasis on sleek, easy-to-use products helped Apple repel competition from rivals as varied as Google and IBM. Under his leadership, Apple developed the iPod, iPhone and iPad — devices that have each defined their technology categories.

Steve Jobs, who was born in San Francisco and grew up in Cupertino, co-founded Apple in 1976 with high school friend Steve Wozniak, after dropping out of Reed College in Portland, Ore. Their breakthrough product, the Macintosh, on which Jobs oversaw development, was introduced in 1984 and quickly helped bring computers – long the province of corporate data centers – to the desks of everyday consumers.

I don’t know if Steve’s sudden resignation is a worsening health issue. I don’t know if it is a shock. Most likely it was going to happen at some point. But why today versus another day? I don’t know but may be we will know more about this when Steve Jobs’ biography is published in 2012.