After months of rumors, confusion, and worries about the health of Apple CEO Steve Jobs, Jobs sent a letter to Apple employees today to announce he will be taking a leave of absence from the company to focus on his health without distractions from the media. Jobs published a letter last Monday stating he had a hormone imbalance and would be treated by Spring, but would remain CEO during the time. Now, Jobs has announced that he will be taking this leave of absence and that his health issues are “more complex than [Jobs] previously thought.” Tim Cook, COO of Apple, will take over day-to-day operations during the time. Cook has taken this job once before when Jobs was being treated for pancreatic cancer in 2004. As seen in the image above, Jobs has been losing weight increasingly. Jobs letter to Apple employees is below.

Team, 

I am sure all of you saw my letter last week sharing something very personal with the Apple community. Unfortunately, the curiosity over my personal health continues to be a distraction not only for me and my family, but everyone else at Apple as well. In addition, during the past week I have learned that my health-related issues are more complex than I originally thought.

In order to take myself out of the limelight and focus on my health, and to allow everyone at Apple to focus on delivering extraordinary products, I have decided to take a medical leave of absence until the end of June.

I have asked Tim Cook to be responsible for Apple’s day to day operations, and I know he and the rest of the executive management team will do a great job. As CEO, I plan to remain involved in major strategic decisions while I am out. Our board of directors fully supports this plan.

I look forward to seeing all of you this summer.

Steve

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