Last week’s news that the CEO of the world’s second most valuable company — and its most valuable tech company — would take a medical leave of absence of unspecified length was something of a shock. It sent company stock careening and got everyone speculating about how Apple would fare in Steve Jobs’ absence. So far, let’s see:

The day after Jobs’ unsettling announcement, the company hosted an earnings call that reported record revenues — yet again.

Then “rumors” (which most in the media know are carefully crafted Apple leaks) started surfacing about the next iPad and iPhone features. Many folks were pleased at the prospects.

In addition, the launch of the iPhone on Verizon is just around the corner and could, if the predictions of many industry observers are correct, send sales of the popular phone into the stratosphere.

Oh, and did we mention that app downloads from Apple’s App Store passed the 10 billion mark a few days ago?

All the nervousness and hand-wringing about Jobs’ leave — which many acknowledge could become permanent — focused on what happened the last time the highly charismatic and creative leader indefinitely abandoned his little computer company that couldn’t seem to compete.

It nearly perished.

But the company that Jobs willingly turns over to his right-hand man, Tim Cook, in 2011 is a very different company from the one he had stolen from him by a soft-drink peddler two decades ago. Lest anyone forget, Jobs was forced out of the company he founded by a Pepsi salesman he himself recruited to help run the company in the mid-80′s. For everyone out there who thinks only Steve Jobs can run Apple, it’s important to note that he is the one responsible for also nearly killing the company.

At Apple now are the Jobs team — who have produced and launched the extraordinarily successful line of computers and devices that have earned the company its success.

Cook, who is taking over for Jobs, has had probably the company’s toughest task in recent years: ensuring that supply can meet the wildly excited demand for Apple products.

Supply, for at least the foreseeable future, is likely to be Apple’s No. 1 job. And Cook has been the genius behind ramping up production of Apple products when no one imagined that the demand would be so huge.

In addition, the competition that Apple and Jobs faced in the 90′s from Microsoft is quickly evaporating as that tech giant continues to self-destruct with unpopular software and unusable, user-unfriendly hardware that alienates potential customers and rarely please analysts.

Steve Jobs has had nearly 20 years to rebuild the company he nearly destroyed once before. It’s hard to imagine that someone as creative and crafty as he is hasn’t laid careful and inventive plans for the future of his fantastic creation.

If he hasn’t, it’s likely the company wasn’t in such great hands after all.

Tags: Apple, medical leave, Steve Jobs, Tim Cook