Cook offered Jobs part of liver in hope of saving his life, book claims

TIm Cook.

Apple chief executive Tim Cook offered to give Steve Jobs part of his liver while the company's co-founder lay dying in bed waiting for a transplant, according to a new book.

Becoming Steve Jobs, by Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli, claims that Jobs angrily turned down Cook's offer, despite his rare blood type making the chances of a liver match very slim.

According to the book, which charts Jobs' life from young entrepreneur to founding and running the largest company in the world, Cook went to see Jobs at his home in 2009, something he would do every day.

Jobs had been ill since late-2003 and had now reportedly developed ascites - an accumulation of fluid in the abdomen. He looked frail and tired, and would lay in bed all day while waiting for a liver transplant.

Cook was convinced Jobs was going to die and went to a hospital for tests to see if he shared his friend's rare blood type.

Cook returned to Jobs' house the next day and showed him his medical records. He added that he was a blood match and there was no risk involved in the operation. As the liver can regenerate and grow, Cook only needed to give Jobs a part of his own organ.

Jobs refused, shouting at Cook that he could not let him go through with such a surgical procedure. Jobs eventually underwent a liver transplant in Memphis on March 21, 2009. However, he died two years later after his pancreatic cancer returned.

Cook has previously spoken of his affection for Jobs, telling Bloomberg last year that Jobs was "in his heart" and revealing that the former chief's office on the fourth floor of the Apple headquarters building still bears its late occupier's name on the door and the interior has been left just as Jobs left it.

Steve Jobs.

Becoming Steve Jobs

also sheds light on life inside Apple as it grew into a global technology power.

According to the book, released on March 24, Jobs and Disney boss Bob Iger discussed buying Yahoo! together, a move that would have given Apple a major presence in the search business now dominated by Google.

The book also claims that Jobs told Apple's design chief, Jony Ive, that the company would never make another television.

Interestingly, Apple has never released a fully-fledged TV, suggesting that the firm built such a gadget before scrapping the idea.

— Telegraph Group Ltd