Just breaking now: Steve Jobs is going on medical leave from Apple until June. In a letter to Apple employees, he wrote the following:

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

Apple COO Tim Cook will take charge of day-to-day affairs until Jobs’ return. This development comes a little over a week after Jobs published a public letter saying that his widely-reported-on weight loss was due to a hormone imbalance that had recently been diagnosed, and which would take him a few months to recover from.

I still don’t like writing about anyone’s personal health–especially in the absence of much in the way of facts. So I can’t think of much to say right now except that I hope Jobs recuperates quickly and completely, and that his company does okay in his absence. And I’d feel good if this latest news doesn’t set off a new flurry of rumor-mongering–although I’m not Pollyannish enough to believe that it won’t.

 
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