Apple employees to celebrate Jobs, stores to close

CUPERTINO, California—Apple is holding a private memorial service for employees to celebrate the life of company co-founder and former chief executive Steve Jobs.

The service, announced to Apple employees in an email by CEO Tim Cook, is scheduled for 10 a.m. (1700 GMT) Wednesday at company headquarters in Cupertino. It will also be webcast to employees worldwide.

Apple plans to close its retail stores for several hours so employees can watch the service online, according to a person familiar with the matter. The person was not authorized to speak publicly about the issue, and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The service will take place in the campus’ outdoor amphitheater, according to Cook’s email.

The celebration is for employees to “take time to remember the incredible things Steve achieved in his life and the many ways he made our world a better place,” Cook wrote.

The event follows a memorial at Stanford University last Sunday for friends and family. That service at Memorial Church reportedly brought out tech titans including Oracle chief Larry Ellison and Microsoft’s Bill Gates, as well as politicians including Bill Clinton. U2 frontman Bono and Joan Baez reportedly performed.

Jobs died on October 5 at age 56 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.—With Rachel Metz