Today in Apple history: Steve Jobs returns to work after liver transplant

Дата публикации: 22-06-2026 13:57:16

On June 22, 2009, Steve Jobs got back on the job at Apple after undergoing a liver transplant as part of his cancer treatment.
(via Cult of Mac - Your source for the latest Apple news, rumors, analysis, reviews, how-tos and deals.)

Основное содержимое страницы с новостью.

June 22, 2009: Apple CEO Steve Jobs returns to work, a couple of months after undergoing a liver transplant as part of his treatment for pancreatic cancer.

Although Jobs has been steadily getting back into work for the past several weeks, the news is made official when a quote from him appears on a June 22 press release about iPhone 3GS sales. An Apple employee also alerts the media after spotting Jobs on campus.

With his return confirmed, everyone wants to know how long Jobs will continue to lead Apple.

Steve Jobs’ pancreatic cancer leads to liver transplant

By 2009, Steve Jobs‘ health problems had been well-known for year. Diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in October 2003, he informed his employees of his illness in mid-2004. However, while the prognosis for pancreatic cancer is usually poor, Jobs had a rare, less-aggressive type of cancer called islet cell neuroendocrine tumor.

Jobs rejected doctors’ recommendations to undergo surgery for nine months, deciding instead to treat the condition with alternative therapies. These included vegan diets, acupuncture, herbal remedies and even a psychic consultation.

Surgery, chemotherapy and shifting cover stories

Jobs ultimately underwent surgery in July 2004. (Tim Cook temporarily assumed the role of Apple CEO for the first time during Jobs’ absence.) During the surgery, doctors found liver metastases, which prompted Jobs to begin chemotherapy.

Jobs returned to Apple in 2005 and told everyone he had been cured — which is the same thing he told students during his famous Stanford commencement address in June 2005. Sadly, he hadn’t beaten cancer. This became obvious to everyone by August 2006, when Jobs appeared much thinner than before during Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco.

Apple denied stories that Jobs remained ill, but the rumors appeared again during WWDC 2008. This time, Apple said Jobs had been suffering from a “common bug” and had been prescribed antibiotics. In January 2009, Apple’s story changed again. Now, the company said Jobs suffered from a “hormone imbalance” that made him unwell.

Steve Jobs’ liver transplant: Illness more serious than previously thought

Finally, Jobs admitted in an internal memo that his “health-related issues are more complex than I originally thought.” He said he would take a six-month leave of absence until June 2009.

This would allow Jobs to undergo a liver transplant. As we now know from the book Becoming Steve Jobs, Cook offered his boss a portion of his own liver for the transplant. Jobs turned it down.

The Apple co-founder underwent surgery at Methodist University Hospital Transplant Institute in Memphis, Tennessee, in April 2009. As promised, he took several months’ leave to recover before returning to Apple in June.

‘Excellent’ prognosis prompts return to Apple

Although his prognosis was reportedly “excellent,” the media still asked questions. CNBC, for instance, reported that Jobs was back at work, but wondered for how long:

“Now, the broader question is whether today is a one-hit-wonder, whether he won’t be here tomorrow, whether his return to Apple full-time is actually coming earlier than the ‘end of June’ time-frame the company has maintained since he left on medical leave in January.

Either way, if the liver transplant time-frame is accurate, and he had the procedure done only two months ago, his return today is pretty impressive.

Meantime, we still await official word from Apple, but employees are confirming this. The news is solid. Jobs is back in the house, at least for today.”

The return lasted until mid-2011, when Jobs finally resigned from Apple and handed the role of CEO to Cook for good.

End of the Steve Jobs era at Apple

Jobs’ last couple of years back at the reins of Apple proved eventful. He launched the iPad. He acquired Siri and worked to integrate the AI assistant into the iPhone. And he worked on plans for the Apple Park “spaceship” campus and much, much more.

Схожие новости

#	Наименование новости	Тональность	Информативность	Дата публикации
1	Today in Apple history: Terrible quarter marks the end for Apple CEO Gil Amelio	-3	6	27-06-2026
2	Ouch: Apple’s Mac and iPad price hikes are brutal	-6	6	25-06-2026
3	Today in Apple history: Bill Gates urges Apple to license Mac OS	0	5	25-06-2026
4	Today in Apple history: Apple’s eWorld online service goes live	0	5	20-06-2026
5	Today in Apple history: MobileMe gets to R.I.P.	-2	3	01-07-2026
6	Today in Apple history: Power Mac G5 is ‘world’s fastest personal computer’	0	5	23-06-2026
7	Today in Apple history: iPhone 4 arrives with glorious Retina display	5	6	24-06-2026
8	Apple’s refurbished M5 Pro MacBook Pros soften the blow of price hike	2	6	26-06-2026
9	Today in Apple history: Apple admits Antennagate is a thing	0	5	02-07-2026
10	Today in Apple history: The App Store gold rush begins	0	5	26-06-2026

Классификация: Информация. Схожих патентов: 0. Схожих новостей: 10. Тональность: 0. Информативность: 5. Источник: www.cultofmac.com.