Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs told the world Wednesday that he discovered that his health issues are more complex than he had previously thought, so he’s taking a medical leave of absence. Jobs, who earlier this month said his recent weight loss was caused by a hormonal imbalance that was relatively easy to treat, plans to be off until the end of June. Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook will mind the shop in the interim. Once Apple shares resumed trading after-hours, investors knocked off about 10 percent of their value.
Here’s a quick roundup of what we found online about these latest developments (And of course, here’s the Reuters story before we get to the other ones):
Tim Cook should do fine as Apple’s interim day-to-day leader. He took control of the company last time Steve went on a leave of absence to treat his pancreatic cancer. Steve says he plans to “remain involved in major strategic decisions” while he is out.
Gizmodo (saying it was right all along for posting a rumor on its blog about this very subject in recent weeks, a blog that other reporters chopped into a million itty bitty pieces):
What’s interesting is that while we broke the rumor of Steve being sick a few weeks ago, and speculated that he was resigning months ago, peers at CNBC and All Things D and others were not convinced, because it was hinging on one particular source. Apparently, they believe the story now and are both moving quickly to report it. The letter above clearly notes that his health issues are more complex than previously thought, but his reasons for stepping down include the fact that stories about his health distract the company from doing its core work.
