Steve Jobs Dies at 56

Team, Steve passed away earlier today. Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being. Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and inspiring mentor.  Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple We are planning a celebration of Steve’s extraordinary life for Apple employees that will take place soon.  If you would like to share you thoughts, memories or condolences in the interim, you can simply e-mail rememberingsteve@apple.com No words can adequately express our sadness at Steve’s death or our gratitude for the opportunity to work with him.  We will honor his memory by dedicating ourselves to continuing the work he loved so much. Tim

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“Steve’s brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives,” Apple said in a statement released to the press. “The world is immeasurably better because of Steve.” His family, in a separate statement, said “Steve died peacefully today surrounded by his family.  In his public life Steve was known as a visionary.  In his private life, he cherished his family.  We’re thankful to the many people who have shared their wishes and prayers during the last year of Steve’s illness.  A website will be provided to those who wish to offer tributes and memories.  We are grateful for the support and kindness of those who share our feelings for Steve.  We know many of you will mourn with us, and we ask that you respect our privacy during our time of grief.” About Steve Jobs – from WikiPedia Steven Paul “Steve” Jobs (born February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American entrepreneur and inventor. He was co-founder, chairman, and former chief executive officer of Apple Inc. Jobs also previously served as chief executive of Pixar Animation Studios; he became a member of the board of directors of The Walt Disney Company in 2006, following the acquisition of Pixar by Disney. He was credited in Toy Story (1995) as an executive producer. In the late 1970s, Jobs, with Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, Mike Markkula, and others, designed, developed, and marketed one of the first commercially successful lines of personal computers, the Apple II series. In the early 1980s, Jobs was among the first to see the commercial potential of Xerox PARC’s mouse-driven graphical user interface, which led to the creation of the Macintosh. After losing a power struggle with the board of directors in 1985, Jobs resigned from Apple and founded NeXT, a computer platform development company specializing in the higher-education and business markets. Apple’s subsequent 1996 buyout of NeXT brought Jobs back to the company he co-founded, and he served as its CEO from 1997 until 2011. In 1986, he acquired the computer graphics division of Lucasfilm Ltd which was spun off as Pixar Animation Studios. He remained CEO and majority shareholder at 50.1% until its acquisition by The Walt Disney company in 2006. Consequently Jobs became Disney’s largest individual shareholder at 7% and a member of Disney’s Board of Directors. His aim to develop products that are both functional and elegant has earned him a devoted following. On August 24, 2011, Jobs announced his resignation from his role as Apple’s CEO. In his letter of resignation, Jobs strongly recommended that the Apple executive succession plan be followed and Tim Cook be named as his successor. Per his request, Jobs was appointed chairman of Apple’s board of directors.]]]]> ]]>

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