Apple announced yesterday that Steve Jobs, the famous co-founder who most of us has come to love, has resigned as CEO of the company. Tim Cook has been chosen to be the new leader.

Here’s the heart breaking official resignation letter from Steve:

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. Unfortunately, that day has come.

I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director and Apple employee.

As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.

I believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.

I have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for the many years of being able to work alongside you.

Steve

We all knew it would happen at some point in time. Steve Jobs has been seriously ill for years now and in 2009 he underwent a liver transplant. But why is he so special? Simply because he’s one of the few people who has changed the technology industry completely!

Steve founded the company with Steve Wozniak exactly 35 years ago. Since then Apple has introduced many revolutionary products that’ve just changed everything. Think about the Machintosh, the iPod and the iPhone. Of course, Apple wasn’t the first to invent the phone. Instead they reinvented it by making it incredibly easy to use with new advanced technology. Apple has done this with many products and even if you don’t like the company I hope you’ll eventually admit it.
Personally I’ll never forget when Steve Jobs walked on stage in 2007 to introduce their first phone.

I found this little tribute to Steve Jobs and his work on YouTube. It’s nothing special but I like it.

For me, Steve Jobs wasn’t just the leader of Apple. He has also been a role model and he always will be. Almost a friend. He didn’t just invent products to sell them, he cared about every single detail. Nothing was too small to be closely examined and I hope other companies will eventually understand that.

I send the best wishes to Steve and his family. I hope he will continue to work with Apple and I hope they’ll always remember his visions and ideas.