Apple posts gargantuan earnings, Jobs goes on leave

CEO Steve Jobs announces he is taking time off for medical reasons, overshadowing news of market success

Published January 19, 2011 1:19AM (EST)

Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs

Apple reported blowout earnings today, much to investors' delight. The company's revenue soared to $26.7 billion last quarter, a 71 percent increase over this time last year, Wired.com reports.

However, news of the company's monster success, accredited largely to holiday sales of the iPhone4, iPad and Macs, was overshadowed by the disclosure that the company's CEO, Steve Jobs, is taking medical leave.

Jobs has suffered pancreatic cancer in the past and took six months off in 2009 when he underwent a liver transplant. He has provided no timeline of when he'll be back to Apple, if at all. Apple's COO Tim Cook will take over the day-to-day operations of the company.


By Michelle Fitzsimmons

Michelle Fitzsimmons is an editorial fellow at Salon.com.

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