Steve Jobs: ‘Unfortunately, That Day Has Come’

Ever since his surgery for pancreatic cancer in 2004, Steve Jobs has dismissed questions about his health as irrelevant. In a manner both imperious and, given the circumstances, understandable, Jobs said that he would know if or when he was unable to fully execute his duties as Apple’s chief executive officer. “Unfortunately, that day has come,” wrote Jobs to the company’s board of directors and “the Apple Community” on Aug. 24.

On the day of the announcement, a person close to Jobs who was not authorized to speak about his health said the outgoing CEO was in Apple’s Cupertino (Calif.) office for the entire workday and attended a regularly scheduled board meeting. This person described Jobs’s condition as weak but added that his resignation was not indicative of a sudden downturn and that Jobs, while housebound in recent weeks, was up and about. Jobs gathered his senior executive team in an emotional meeting after the news broke. He also made clear he plans to be an active chairman, according to another source familiar with the transition. The market reaction was instantaneous: Apple shares fell as much as 7 percent in extended trading after the announcement.