Steve Jobs resigns as Apple CEO

In a written statement, Apple, the world’s second biggest company by market capitalization, announced that sales and operations chief Tim Cook would take over as CEO but that Steve Jobs would stay on as chairman of the board.

“Steve’s extraordinary vision and leadership saved Apple and guided it to its position as the world’s most innovative and valuable technology company,” board member Art Levinson said in a statement.

“The board has complete confidence that Tim is the right person to be our next CEO,” Levinson added.

No reason was given for Job’s resignation, but his health problems, including a lengthy medical leave for a liver transplant in 2009 and his increasingly gaunt appearances at public events, fueled speculation he would have to give up the everyday running of the company he co-founded in 1976.

Steve Jobs