Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple who helped revolutionize the digital age, died Wednesday. He was 56.
“Apple has lost a visionary and creative genius, and the world has lost an amazing human being,” the company said in a brief statement. “Those of us who have been fortunate enough to know and work with Steve have lost a dear friend and an inspiring mentor. Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple.”
Diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2004, Jobs battled the disease as Apple’s chief executive before stepping down this past August.
Bloomberg added that the city’s government and everyone from street construction inspectors to NYPD detectives “harnessed Apple’s products to do their jobs more efficiently and intuitively.”
Jobs co-founded Apple with Steve Wozniak in 1976 before being ousted by the company nine years later. Following his firing, Jobs pursued other avenues, which included purchasing Pixar, before returning to Apple in 1997 and ushering in a 15-year run where the company revolutionized personal computers, music and cell phones.
In September, Forbes Magazine estimated Jobs’ wealth at $7 billion.
Jobs is survived by his wife and four children.
