Apple’s Jobs to Take Medical Leave Until End of June

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs will take a medical leave of absence from his post till the end of June because his health problems turned out to be “more complex than originally thought,” he said on Tuesday, surprising investors.

Jobs, a pancreatic cancer survivor, said, however, he planned to remain involved in major strategic decisions while he’s away. Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook will take responsibility for day-to-day operations in Jobs’ absence.

The statement comes just over a week after Jobs sought to soothe investors’ persistent concerns about his health, saying his marked weight loss over past months was due to a hormone imbalance that was relatively simple to treat.

Speculation about his health resurfaced in June 2008, when Jobs appeared markedly thinner at an Apple event. He is seen as the driver of Apple’s successful products, including Macintosh computers, iPod media players and iPhones.