“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 wrote in his resignation letter. “Unfortunately, that day has come.’’
His departure as CEO could dramatically alter the high-tech and consumer electronics industries and the fortunes of Apple, the second-largest publicly traded company, with a market value of nearly $350 billion.
The board of Apple, based in Cupertino, Calif., elected Jobs as its non-executive chairman and named its chief operating officer, Tim Cook, to succeed Jobs as chief executive.
Leaders in the Boston area’s high-tech community, who often cite their rivalry with California’s Silicon Valley, said Jobs’s legacy is unparalleled in the technology world.
“Steve Jobs is on my ‘eternal heroes’ list,’’ said Bob Metcalfe, who founded computer networking giant 3Com Corp. and is now a general partner at Polaris Venture Partners in Waltham. “He did what he set out to do: create insanely great products. And he did it his way.’’
“He’s the most brilliant software developer and tech business person who’s ever lived,’’ said serial high-tech entrepreneur and angel investor John Landry of Wayland. “He’s taken his vision and created the most valuable technology company in the world.’’
David Tames, who worked for Apple in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a senior systems engineer, said Apple products like the Mac computer have “basically defined what I do and how I do it.’’
Tames, who now works for the Massachusetts College of Art and Design, said that given Apple’s influence on the modern consumer, finding someone to fill Jobs’s shoes will be “much tougher than filling the presidency of the United States.’’
Apple issued a statement yesterday that outlined the transition but gave no reason for Jobs’s resignation.
In his resignation letter, released by the company, Jobs recommended Cook as his successor and said he believed Apple’s “brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it.’’
