The Shoulders of One Man

Apple CEO Steve Jobs is taking a medical leave of absence, nearly two years after he embarked on his first medical leave. After his liver transplant in 2009 he returned in apparent good health, and Apple stock continued its relentless march upward.

AAPL's performance vs. market indices and rival Google over the past two years.

U.S. markets are closed today, but in Europe Apple shares are trading lower by 6.2%. It would be very surprising if Apple shares aren't hammered on Tuesday.

Undoubtedly there will be complaints about Apple's secretiveness and many questions about Steve Jobs' health. Investor "watchdogs" may even threaten investigations and lawsuits. IMHO, anyone with half a brain realistically had to recognize this risk in holding Apple stock. (As an Apple shareholder, I am proud to announce that I do have half a brain.)

For a few moments, however, let's reflect on Steve Jobs, be grateful for his legacy, and pray for his recovery. As we wrote two years ago,

Steve Jobs transformed a left-behind tech company to one that is the leader of the pack. He redesigned Macintosh computers with color and rounded shapes, upended the digital music industry with iTunes and the iPod, opened Apple stores when the bricks-and-mortar model was supposedly passé, and became the cellphone leader with the iPhone in 2007. Meanwhile Apple continued to pour resources into the Mac, the OSX operating system, and its user-friendly software, and the Mac’s market share grew in a PC-centric world.

As longtime buyers of Apple products and often forlorn investors in its stock, we are astounded by the company's decade-long reversal and ascent in fortune. Great-men-of-history skeptics say that we give too much credit to individuals (e.g., they might say that the Allies would have been victorious without Churchill and Roosevelt), but it’s clear to this observer that Steve Jobs changed the history of technology.

For self-interested reasons we hope that Steve Jobs returns to Apple, but whether he does or not, we wish him recovery and happiness. Thank you, Steve.

© 2011 Stephen Yuen