Apple founder and visionary Steve Jobs dies, aged 56

Apple founder anf former CEO Steve Jobs has died of pancreatic cancer. He was 56 years old.

Raised in California, Jobs started the company in his garage in1976 with his pal Steve Wozniak. Over the next 35 years he helped lead the company to becoming one of the most innovative, valuable and recognisable brands in the world.

Seen as a perfectionist as well as a visionary leader, he was actually fired by the company during a downturn in its fortunes in the 1980s. But he returned in 1997 to lead an incredible resurgence, starting with the launch of the iMac in 1998.

The company then went from strength to strength, with its growing image as a competitor to Microsoft in the home computer and laptop arenas bolstered by the incredible success of the iPod MP3 range. More recent successes in the smartphone and tablet sectors, with Apple's iPhone and iPad devices, have left the company in a better position than ever before.

Tributes to Jobs have been pouring in from across the world. The level of respect and warmth for him was summed up by American president Barack Obama. He described Jobs as "among the great American innovators, brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it." He went on: "The world has lost a visionary."

Jobs had a liver transplant in 2009 but continued to struggle with ill health after the operation. He stepped down as Apple CEO earlier this year as his battle with cancer continued. He passed away peacefully with his family and is survived by his wife of 20 years, Laurene Powell, and four children.