Steve Jobs, the tech visionary who built Apple into a global force in culture, has died at 56 in California, the company said.

The Silicon Valley pioneer helped create the world’s first personal computer and turned Apple into a corporate giant that won millions of devoted customers worldwide.

For many, it cornered the market on laptops, then changed music with the iPod, communications with the iPhone and computing with the iPad.

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Apple released a statement paying tribute to Jobs, who stepped down from his post as Apple CEO a few months ago, according to The Guardian.

“Steve’s brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives,” it said. “The world is immeasurably better because of Steve.”

President Obama said Jobs “was among the greatest of American innovators,” the New York Daily News reported.

Fellow tech titan Bill Gates, the former chief executive of Microsoft, said in a statement that he was “truly saddened” to learn of Jobs’ death.

A friend of the family told The New York Times that Jobs died of complications from pancreatic cancer.

He waged a long and public struggle with the disease, turning gaunt, and remained the face of the company even as he underwent treatment. Reports about his health often spread disquiet among investors, who counted on him to spur more growth at the company.

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