IBT Staff Reporter

The force behind the iPod, iPhone and iPad not only created and then rescued Apple, building it into the most valuable tech company on the planet.

Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) co-founder and chairman Bill Gates bid farewell to his long-time friend and competitor Steve Jobs on Wednesday, using the Apple (AAPL.O) co-founder's own words in his tribute.

Apple Inc co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs, counted among the greatest American CEOs of his generation, died on Wednesday at the age of 56, after a years-long and highly public battle with cancer and other health issues.

The death of Apple Inc co-founder Steve Jobs prompted an outpouring of comments and tributes from political, technology, entertainment and business leaders. A selection:

Steve Jobs, who transformed the worlds of personal computing, music and mobile phones, died on Wednesday at the age of 56 after a years-long battle with pancreatic cancer.

The death of Apple co-founder and tech visionary Steve Jobs on Wednesday prompted an outpouring from public figures across the nation. Everyone from Snoop Dogg to President Barack Obama paid tribute to the man who transformed the computer and entertainment industries, and forever changed the way we consume media.

President Barack Obama joined an outpouring of tributes to Steve Jobs, calling the Apple co-founder a visionary and great American innovator.

Steve Jobs, Apple Inc's co-founder and former CEO who died Wednesday after a long battle with pancreatic cancer, created a series of seminal electronics products, reinvented several industries, and built Apple into a $350 billion juggernaut.

Passionate, prickly, and deemed irreplaceable by many Apple fans and investors, Steve Jobs made a life defying conventions and expectations.

European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet is expected to prepare the ground for a pre-Christmas interest rate cut at his final policy meeting on Thursday and offer banks further protection against the euro zone's worsening debt storm.

-- The Apple chairman and former Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs passed away on Wednesday after a long struggle with pancreatic cancer. He was 56 years old, reported China's Xinhua news agency. Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives, Apple said in a statement. The world is immeasurably better because of Stev...

Forbes has announced “America’s Most Dangerous Cities” in 2011 and Midwest cities finds themselves on top of the dreaded list.

Oracle Corp is preparing to expand its offerings in cloud computing, one of the fastest-growing areas of the technology sector, the company said on Wednesday ahead of a speech by Chief Executive Larry Ellison.

Senate Democrats want to hit millionaires with a 5 percent surcharge on their taxes to pay for President Barack Obama's $447 billion jobs program, but the plan seems to be going nowhere in the divided Congress.

Steve Jobs, who transformed the worlds of personal computing, music and mobile phones, died on Wednesday at the age of 56 after a years-long battle with pancreatic cancer.

Captains of Google, Bank of America and Citicorp say they are ready to pay higher taxes, as long as Congress uses the money to get the U.S. economy back on its feet.

The top prosecutor for Northern California won't participate in a criminal investigation of failed solar energy company Solyndra because of ties to a law firm involved in the case.

Disturbing sounds and images from Michael Jackson's life and death played a key role on Wednesday in the manslaughter trial of his doctor, with jurors hearing a recording of the self-styled King of Pop speaking in a slurred voice and viewing a photo of his dead body.

Having already reached lofty heights on the golf course this year, American Patrick Cantlay has savored the prospect of playing in the company of Tiger Woods at this week's Frys.com Open.

The new Academy museum could open in the old May Company building at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art as soon as three years from now, Academy CEO Dawn Hudson told TheWrap on Wednesday.

Bank of America Corp said an ongoing upgrade and heavy traffic was behind six days of problems with its banking website, easing concerns about possible hacking.

It's now David 2, Goliath 0.

Jennifer Aniston says she has no desperation to start a family, following rampant media speculation that she is already pregnant.

Thousands of anti-Wall Street demonstrators converged on New York's financial district on Wednesday, their ranks swelled by nurses, transit workers and other union members joining the protest over economic inequality and the power of U.S. financial institutions.

Texting, or emailing, while driving doubles reaction time and makes drivers more likely to miss a flashing light, according to new research.

Apple Inc (AAPL.O) co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs, counted among the greatest American CEOs of his generation, died on Wednesday at the age of 56, after a years-long and highly public battle with cancer and other health issues.

Microsoft is set to win EU approval for its planned $8.5 billion acquisition of online telephone service Skype, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.

Apple lost Steve Jobs today. At the age of 56, Jobs was a visionary that built a company like Apple no one could ever imagine. In 2004, he was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in his pancreas.

Steve Jobs, Apple's co-founder and former CEO, died on Wednesday, at the age of 56.