Steve Jobs takes medical leave of his job.

Today, Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced that he will be turning the reins over to Apple COO Tim Cook while he takes a medical leave of absence. In a note to Apple employees, Jobs wrote:

Team,

At my request, the board of directors has granted me a medical leave of absence so I can focus on my health. I will continue as CEO and be involved in major strategic decisions for the company.

I have asked Tim Cook to be responsible for all of Apple’s day to day operations. I have great confidence that Tim and the rest of the executive management team will do a terrific job executing the exciting plans we have in place for 2011.

I love Apple so much and hope to be back as soon as I can. In the meantime, my family and I would deeply appreciate respect for our privacy.

Steve

Medical Specifics

The medical specifics of Jobs’ current medical condition were not revealed but, as we reported, Jobs underwent a liver transplant in June 2009. He also underwent treatment for a islet cell neuroendocrine tumor in 2004. This bit of health news is frequently reported as him having had pancreatic cancer, but as we have reported on several occasions, these are two completely different tumors. Although they both originate in pancreatic cells, the cells are look and function differently, and have different prognoses.

For more details see our article :
[box type=”note”]Apple CEO Steve Jobs did not have Pancreatic Cancer.[/box]