Yesterday, fifty-six-year-old Steve Jobs resigned from Apple Inc. due to medical illness. During his resignation, Jobs adamantly advocated for Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook to take his position as chairman of the board:"As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple. " Since Jobs' medical leave in January, fifty-year-old Cook has been widely considered to succeed Jobs pending his medical condition since he has been taking over all of Jobs' day-to-day operations during all three of Jobs' medical leaves for the past seven years...
Jobs, notably one of Apple Inc.'s largest assets, has been facing an ongoing battle with pancreatic cancer. "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," Jobs noted in his resignation. "Unfortunately, that day has come."
Although Jobs is resigning, he still intends, as chairman of Genentech and Apple board member, Art Levisnon, states Jobs will "continue to serve Apple with his unique insights, creativity and inspiration." Jobs himself writes in his resignation letter that he "look[s] forward to watching and contributing to [Apple's] success in a new role."
Along with Jobs' health, many people are concerned with Apple's stock which will expectantly decline in the market. In fact, after Jobs' announcement last night Apple's shares slid 5.13% to $355.70 in after-hours trading, after closing at $376.18, up $2.58, at 4 p.m. on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Afterall, as WSJ notes, "Mr. Jobs not only co-founded Apple—and the personal computer industry along with it—but decades later played a central role in reshaping the music, movie, animation, and mobile-phone businesses."
Now that Jobs, and his so far unparallelled creativity, is no longer a part of Apple Inc. I, like many others, are wondering who will be Apple's main creative force. Will the company continue to pioneer the industry with its' ingenious tech savvy innovations? Perhaps Cook, who has already been subbing for Jobs in the past, with the aid of Jobs' insight will be able to not only maintain Apple's supremacy, but perhaps even advance it? Granted, this of course seems difficult to fathom. I mean, what is grander than the big Apple with its' indisputable monopoly over the technology industry.
As Jobs enlightened Standford graduates back in 2005, we must keep in mind that "You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future."
Written By: Jenna Elizabeth
Sources:
Wall Street Journal
Las Angelos Times
CNN
Yahoo
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