Photo by acaben Apple CEO Steve Jobs speaks at the Worldwide Developers Conference in 2007.

Steve Jobs sent an email to all of his Apple employees earlier today and said that he is going to take a medical break to take care of his health. Previously the CEO mentioned he had “hormonal imbalance” problems but then said it had been taken care off. Now it appears it is more serious than he had expected. He has asked Tim Cook to take over the daily operations of Apple but will be involved in major strategic decisions. He sent the following email to his employees:

Team,

I am sure all of you saw my letter last week sharing something very personal with the Apple community. Unfortunately, the curiosity over my personal health continues to be a distraction not only for me and my family, but everyone else at Apple as well. In addition, during the past week I have learned that my health-related issues are more complex than I originally thought.

In order to take myself out of the limelight and focus on my health, and to allow everyone at Apple to focus on delivering extraordinary products, I have decided to take a medical leave of absence until the end of June.

I have asked Tim Cook to be responsible for Apple’s day to day operations, and I know he and the rest of the executive management team will do a great job. As CEO, I plan to remain involved in major strategic decisions while I am out. Our board of directors fully supports this plan.

I look forward to seeing all of you this summer.

Steve