Steve Jobs, Apple’s co-founder passed away on this day four years ago due to respiratory arrest. He was 56 years old and fought a long, difficult battle with pancreatic cancer. Now four years later, Tim Cook, the current CEO of Apple commemorates the fourth anniversary of Jobs’ death by sending a company-wide email to employees.
In the email, Tim Cook praises the late-CEO of Apple as a visionary leader, a mentor, and “a dear friend” and highlights what made jobs a powerful human being. The email which was circulated inside the company notes that employees at Apple honor Steve by “continuing the work he started, and for remembering both who he was and what he stood for.”
The world lost a visionary just 48 hours following the official unveiling of iPhone 4s and Siri on October 24.
Tim Cook also tweeted about Jobs on his Twitter handle:
Remembering Steve for who he was and what he stood for. We honor him by continuing the work he loved so much. pic.twitter.com/6UiXBjYe3l
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) October 5, 2015
A copy of the internal email was obtained by the Telegraph which can be read below:
Team,
Today marks four years since Steve passed away. On that day, the world lost a visionary. We at Apple lost a leader, a mentor, and many of us lost a dear friend.
Steve was a brilliant person, and his priorities were very simple. He loved his family above all, he loved Apple, and he loved the people with whom he worked so closely and achieved so much.
Each year since his passing, I have reminded everyone in the Apple community that we share the privilege and responsibility of continuing the work Steve loved so much.
What is his legacy? I see it all around us: An incredible team that embodies his spirit of innovation and creativity. The greatest products on earth, beloved by customers and empowering hundreds of millions of people around the world. Soaring achievements in technology and architecture. Experiences of surprise and delight. A company that only he could have built. A company with an intense determination to change the world for the better.
And, of course, the joy he brought his loved ones.
He told me several times in his final years that he hoped to live long enough to see some of the milestones in his children’s lives. I was in his office over the summer with Laurene and their youngest daughter. Messages and drawings from his kids to their father are still there on Steve’s whiteboard.
If you never knew Steve, you probably work with someone who did or who was here when he led Apple. Please stop one of us today and ask what he was really like. Several of us have posted our personal remembrances on AppleWeb, and I encourage you to read them.
Thank you for honoring Steve by continuing the work he started, and for remembering both who he was and what he stood for.Tim