Steve Jobs Dies at 56 ahead of iPhone 5 Release

The sadder news than the iPhone 5's non-event has arrived - Steve Jobs, Apple's co-founder and former CEO, died on Wednesday, at the age of 56.

We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Jobs passed away today, Apple's board of directors announced in a statement.

Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve. His greatest love was for his wife, Laurene, and his family. Our hearts go out to them and to all who were touched by his extraordinary gifts.

The death of Jobs, a visionary who shaped the tech industry for the past 35 years, comes a day after Apple's new CEO Tim Cook hosted the company's Let's Talk iPhone event, which disappointed many Apple fans by the non-event of iPhone 5 announcement. It was the first, and turned out to be the last as well, iPhone event that Jobs was absent from.

Jobs' health had been known to be worsening. Jobs was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2003. He treated the cancer and apparently was fine until 2009, when he had to take a leave of absence because his health issues were more complex than originally thought.

In 2009, he had a successful liver transplant and returned to work in June of that year.

On Jan. 17, 2011, one and a half years after Jobs returned from his liver transplant, Apple announced that he had been granted a medical leave of absence.

In his most recent appearances, including at June's Worldwide Developer Conference, Jobs looked thinner and less healthy than he had in previous years. Naturally, Jobs nor anyone involved with Apple would comment on his health, leaving everything up to speculation.

Jobs announced his resignation from his role as Apple's CEO on Aug. 24. In the letter, Jobs wrote that he could no longer meet duties and expectations as Apple's CEO.

As one of leaders who radically altered the world in the 21st century, Jobs has raised Apple to be an almost unbeatable technology giant of today.

Steve Jobs is the greatest business leader of our time. He'll be remembered for 100 years. To think that I knew somebody who became the most important person in the world. It's actually -- it's kind of stunning. Steve Wozniak, Co-Founder of Apple

Steve Jobs is the most successful CEO in the U.S. of the last 25 years. He uniquely combined an artist's touch and an engineer's vision to build an extraordinary company, one of the greatest American leaders in history. - Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google

Steve Jobs is a visionary in the computer industry. We look forward to both Steve and his team having a positive impact on our industry for many years to come. - Stephen Elop, CEO of Nokia

His brilliance has been well-documented, but what gets forgotten is the bravery with which he's confronted his illness. For him to achieve this much success under these circumstances doubles his legacy. - Howard Stringer, CEO and Chairman of Sony

Steve Jobs is one of California's greatest innovators. Very few achieved his impact over the last 50 years and probably the next 100 years. Arnold Schwarzenegger, actor and former Governor of California

Most mere mortals cannot understand a person like Steve Jobs. He's the greatest CEO in the history of man. He's just got a different operating system. Former Apple employee Guy Kawasaki

R.I.P. Steve Jobs, the world will miss you greatly.