Steve Jobs Resigns as Apple CEO

By Chuck Sudo in News on Aug 25, 2011 1:30PM

In a bombshell announcement that may have ramifications on today's stock trading, Apple Computer, Inc. founder Steve Jobs resigned as CEO of the company and turned over his duties to Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook.

In a letter to Apple's Board of Directors, Jobs wrote:

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.

The announcement raised fears about Jobs's health. He's been fighting a rare form of pancreatic cancer since 2003, had a liver transplant in 2009 and has been on a medical leave of absence since January, his third such leave of absence in recent years.

In the past decade, Jobs has revolutionized how we listen to music and the music industry with the iPod; dominated the smartphone industry with the iPhone and created a sea change with the iPad, technological advancements based mainly on Jobs's belief that he knew what his customers wanted. Heir apparent Cook has been instrumental to that success, locking up contracts for critical parts to Apple's products well in advance and maintaining the company's profit margins in his role overseeing the company's supply chain, manufacturing and other operations.

The Alabama-born Cook doesn't have the charisma of Jobs, but experts call him an "operational genius." What he hasn't shown is an ability to be a product visionary like Jobs. Cook now has to show he can rally the troops behind him as effectively as Jobs.