Why did Steve Jobs choose this week to step down?

One of the mysteries surrounding Steve Jobs' decision to hand the CEO title over to Tim Cook is its timing.

The assumption underlying most of the commentary these past two days is that Jobs must be really, really sick, but he's clearly not on his deathbed. John Dvorak offers a simpler, more logical explanation: "The reason is Tim Cook."

Everyone in Silicon Valley would love to hire this guy, and from his perspective, his title as "acting" chief executive gets old fast when you are actually running the company.

Jobs has been on extended leave for months, so what's going to change with this announcement? Nothing, that's what — except the title itself. And this is what is important.

Giving up the CEO title to Cook had to be done sooner than later. The company cannot take a chance that Cook might get be tired of being jerked around. More importantly, from Cook's perspective, he cannot afford to be the acting chief executive if Jobs actually dies while he is acting chief.

The way these companies operate, they will keep a CEO if he or she is the actual CEO and the chairman/founder dies. If he or she is the acting CEO when the chairman/founder/CEO dies, then the job is up for grabs. Cook would not automatically become the CEO.

In other words, Cook may get screwed out of the top spot when the weasels come out of the woodwork. "Yes, he's the acting CEO, but let's just look around before we give him the job — just in case."

(Aug 26)