Apple co-founder Steve Jobs died at around 3:00 p.m. Pacific Time on Wednesday October 5, 2011, at his Palo Alto home. The Santa Clara County Public Health Department recorded the immediate cause as respiratory arrest, with "metastatic pancreas neuroendocrine tumor" as the underlying cause. Jobs was 56 years old and had been treated for this rare pancreatic cancer since age 49.
His wife Laurene Powell Jobs issued a statement that day: "Steve died peacefully today surrounded by his family. In his public life, Steve was known as a visionary; in his private life, he cherished his family." Jobs had addressed mortality in his 2005 Stanford commencement speech after a successful tumor operation. In 2009, he took extended leave for a liver transplant, later thanking his donor: "I am alive because of their generosity." He refused Tim Cook's liver offer but praised how Cook and others "rose to the occasion."
Jobs's final public appearance was June 7, 2011, at a Cupertino meeting discussing Apple Park plans. He formally stepped down as CEO on August 24, 2011. On his last day, he chaired a board meeting, tested a pre-release Siri, and rode home with Apple attorney George Riley. That evening, he told biographer Walter Isaacson: "I've had a very lucky career, a very lucky life. I've done all that I can do."
Source: AppleInsider · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing