Steve Jobs publicly retook the reins of the company he founded

Jobs was the first person to emerge on stage at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts to open the now-annual September iPod introduction. Appearing notably thin, he received a prolonged standing ovation of mostly members of the media, but including music and technology industry guests as well. Jobs quietly took in the applause and then began to speak fairly candidly about his well-known medical problems that kept him away from work for most of the year.

“I’m very happy to be here today with you all,” he said once the applause died down. “As you may know, I had a liver transplant. So I have the liver of a mid-20s person who died in a car crash, and was generous enough to donate their organs. And I wouldn’t be here without such generosity.”

He used the moment to encourage more people to do the same, calling on everyone to be an organ donor. He also thanked everyone at Apple and the Apple community for the support he received while he was gone. At that point though, it wasn’t yet clear whether this was a farewell or a welcome home event for Jobs. It became very apparent soon after, when he thanked the man who had taken over day-to-day duties running Apple between January and June, COO Tim Cook, and all Apple executive team.

“They really ran the company very ably during that time,” Jobs said. “So, I’m vertical, I’m back at Apple, and loving every day of it.”

The statement was clearly Jobs’ way of saying that he’s reassumed full responsibility as the leader of his company. There had been speculation that though he was back at work, that if he did appear at the event Wednesday he would use it as a way to say goodbye and step into the background while a new successor began to be groomed. That was not what happened.

Jobs was was the host of the entire event, just as he always had been. Though other executives joined him, including SVP of Marketing Phil Schiller and Jeff Robbin, lead iTunes software designer, it was clearly his show. He also revived two well-known trademarks of his public appearances: his outfit of black turtleneck, jeans, and white tennis shoes, and “One more thing” phrase. [CNET]

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