Apple CEO admits health problem
Posted
Jan 05 2009, 10:54 AM
by
Kim Peterson
Rating:
Apple (AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs took the unusual step Monday of releasing a personal note to the public about his health. He admits he's been losing weight, and that a hormone imbalance is denying his body of necessary proteins.
The remedy for the problem is straightforward, he says, and the weight will probably return by late spring (full text of letter below).
Apple shares rose 4% on the news. Jobs needed to do this, mainly because people just wouldn't leave the issue alone. Health concerns have been hanging on Apple shares ever since last summer, and the talk had intensified to the point that bloggers were even asking the poor employees at Jobs' favorite frozen yogurt shop for a diagnosis.
Jobs' letter is also a response to the frenzy of paranoia that erupted after Apple said that Jobs is skipping his customary keynote address at the Macworld conference this month. Another executive, Philip Schiller, will give the keynote, and Apple is leaving the conference altogether after this year.
It's great that Jobs' doctors were able to get to the bottom of the problem and come up with a fix. And disclosing the personal news was the right thing to do. A CEO like Jobs doesn't come along very often, and Apple investors need to know how he fits into the future of the company.
Here's the full text of Jobs' letter:
Dear Apple Community,
For the first time in a decade, I'm getting to spend the holiday season with my family, rather than intensely preparing for a Macworld keynote.
Unfortunately, my decision to have Phil deliver the Macworld keynote set off another flurry of rumors about my health, with some even publishing stories of me on my deathbed.
I've decided to share something very personal with the Apple community so that we can all relax and enjoy the show tomorrow.
As many of you know, I have been losing weight throughout 2008. The reason has been a mystery to me and my doctors. A few weeks ago, I decided that getting to the root cause of this and reversing it needed to become my #1 priority.
Fortunately, after further testing, my doctors think they have found the cause -- a hormone imbalance that has been "robbing" me of the proteins my body needs to be healthy. Sophisticated blood tests have confirmed this diagnosis.
The remedy for this nutritional problem is relatively simple and straightforward, and I've already begun treatment. But, just like I didn't lose this much weight and body mass in a week or a month, my doctors expect it will take me until late this Spring to regain it. I will continue as Apple's CEO during my recovery.
I have given more than my all to Apple for the past 11 years now. I will be the first one to step up and tell our Board of Directors if I can no longer continue to fulfill my duties as Apple's CEO. I hope the Apple community will support me in my recovery and know that I will always put what is best for Apple first.
So now I've said more than I wanted to say, and all that I am going to say, about this.
Steve
Here's what others are saying about Jobs' disclosure:
CNet: "The startling admission that Apple and Jobs knew several weeks ago that health concerns had become his number one priority calls into question the company's handling of Jobs' absence from Macworld. There are no hard-and-fast guidelines that dictate how companies are supposed to handle health concerns, the way strict guidelines dictate the handling of material financial information."
Clusterstock: "Apple's recent position has been that it will tell investors if Steve is unable to continue to perform his duties as CEO. That was not the question everyone was asking after the MacWorld news. The question everyone was 'Was this decision related to Steve's health?' Apple strongly implied that it was not."
ThinkEquity analyst Vijay Rakesh: "I think it does put to rest all the speculation on his health and I think people will now start to focus on the business. I think obviously this is very good for Apple and the stock because Jobs has been an innovator. He steered the company into a lot of new products."
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