Steve Jobs taking medical leave. It appears things are worse than he thought.

[alfredo]

http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/14/technology/apple_jobs/index.htm


Apple's Jobs to take leave
CEO says health issues 'more complex than originally thought,' to be sidelined until end of June.
By Ben Rooney, CNNMoney.com staff writer
January 14, 2009: 4:52 PM ET


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs said Wednesday he will take a leave of absence because of health issues.

Jobs, who announced last week that he suffered from a hormone imbalance that was caused him to lose weight, said he will be away from the job until the end of June.

"In order to take myself out of the limelight and focus on my health, and to allow everyone at Apple to focus on delivering extraordinary products, I have decided to take a medical leave of absence until the end of June," Jobs said in a statement.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

1. Hormone imbalance, my ass......

He's got pancreatic cancer. Granted, he's getting the best treatment in the world, and he's lived a lot longer than most people with pancreatic cancer, but he's in trouble. I knew it when he first surfaced again. He looked ghastly.

[alfredo]

2. Let's hope Tim Cook can lead Apple. I fear Jobs is history. The whole

Pixar/Disney deal was to make sure his family was taken care of after he dies.

[alfredo]

3. Some insiders are saying that it is a problem absorbing nutrients. I have

Crohn's and it caused me to lose weight like you see with Jobs. I couldn't absorb nutrients because of the Crohn's.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

10. I know about Crohn's, and,

yes, that's a vicious thing. But, he's a pancreatic cancer patient, and all the signs are of the cancer growing.

[alfredo]

12. That could be the case. But the stress could also cause GI troubles.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

19. Sure could, and

so could the drugs he's taking. The treatment of pancreatic cancer is, of necessity, VERY aggressive.

Poor guy. I feel bad for him. And Patrick Swayze. This is the cancer that killed Michael Landon, remember?

[alfredo]

27. too bad they have to poison you to cure you. The drugs they uses messes

with the immune system.

[malaise]

8. Sad but true

He's in deep trouble here.

[nini]

20. Is this your diagnosis or did you read it somewhere?

I admit I haven't followed his situation closely and don't really know.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

24. I'm not a physician, so, no,

it's an educated guess. I've had two people close to me endure this particular cancer. Sadly, you learn stuff during times like those. It's a rotten illness with an almost-certain bad outcome. It looks to me like Jobs has gotten good, aggressive treatment, but it sounds like he's not able to push on.

There's not much to the story, so I daresay you haven't missed much. It's unfortunate that so much of Apple's fortune rises or falls on one man's health, but they've handled it very poorly, I think.

[nini]

25. liver and pancreatic cancer is a death sentence for sure

I know a couple people too who died from that - not pretty.


thanks for the clarification.

[RB TexLa]

4. He could no longer hide how bad things are from the public and investors is more likely.

[Statistical]

5. It was a bad idea to try and hide it anyways....

Not saying it is right but expect a class action lawsuit against Jobs.

Stock tanked on new of him leaving.
When he said "I am fine".
When he said "I didn't go to Macworld for non health reasons"
When he said "I am not going anywhere"

people bought the stock. When you buy AAPL you are buying Jobs. Without Jobs AAPL almost went bankrupt. MSFT essentially bought $5 bill of AAPL stock to keep the company alive (capital infusion).

Like it or not Jobs had a fiduciary responsibility to shareholders. He shouldn't have lied or attempted to cover it up. He will be sued.

People who bought AAPL @ $80 believing Jobs was telling the truth lost a substantial amount of money. They lost is because he made false statements. If those false statements can be proven he cant expect a substantial suit.

[RB TexLa]

6. His ego is going to cost him, he made and kept the company all about him

The man does have a right to medical privacy and never under any circumstances has to inform anyone of any medical information. No American citizen or visitor to our country ever does. But his keeping everything about him was not be best move with a health condition.

[okiru109]

22. lol

his VISION is what has made this company what it is today, one of the most innovative computer companies on the planet.

FYI: When you are the CEO everything is about you and your decisions.

[alfredo]

7. That cash infusion came at a time when MS was under investigation for

monopolistic behavior. it was to their benefit to keep a rival alive and healthy.

[Statistical]

9. 100% agreed.

Of course MSFT did it for their benefit.

That doesn't change the fact that AAPL was sinking fast and without both MSFT cash + Jobs return the company might not even be around today.

[alfredo]

17. Jobs is a tough negotiator, and I think Jobs had to have been the one to

point out the peril of killing off their most celebrated competition. The stock buy was also connected to a suit Apple had against MS I believe.

MS knew that QuickTime was a big threat and wanted Jobs to "knife the baby" but Jobs refused. Quicktime is at the center of so much that Apple has created since then. Even back then Jobs wanted to be the ones to deliver content from Hollywood. Quicktime would be the vehicle. His first plan was to deliver content to theaters by way of satellite, but as the internet came of age, he bypassed the theaters to deliver content to the desktop. It started off with Quicktime as the "Apple Store" of sorts, but that was just a proof of concept. Things didn't happen until iTunes.
If Apple can capture the home, it will soon find its way into enterprise. That is slowly happening. It's called an end run.

[earth mom]

11. I'm really sorry to hear this. I hope Jobs gets well soon!

:grouphug:

[alfredo]

14. He's been really good for the electronic industry. He showed that design

is important. He also pushed advancements in technology. He remade the music industry. Look how he has shaken up the cell phone industry. We need at least one Apple type of company in the Auto industry.

We need visionaries to keep this country competitive.

We need risk takers like Jobs. US manufacturing has suffered because it became too conservative. Look at GM. People like Jobs are assholes, but they push the technology, they make competitors try harder. The more conservative entities fell by the wayside, but those unafraid of change have survived. I am seeing some nice stuff out of HP and Sony. Would they have gone that route if not for Apple showing the value of being different?

Sure Apple will miss Jobs, but Tim Cook is smart and trusted by Jobs. They still have the genius of Jonathan Ive. Ive is the man who makes the visions real.
http://www.jonathanive.com/biography/

http://www.jonathanive.com/inventory/

[AlCzervik]

16. i have that harmon kardon set up, sounds great.

[alfredo]

18. I didn't know it was an Ive creation. I thought it was a Harmon Kardon design.

[earth mom]

26. You said everything I'm feeling about this. I love my Mac & don't want to live in a pc only world

which is what I fear will happen if something happens to such a visionary as Steve Jobs. :(

[alfredo]

28. Back in the dark days, there was a plan for Mac people to go Linux if

MS was able to kill Apple. Surrender? Hell no!

[Lance_Boyle]

13. Are the mac-hippies building makeshift shrines yet?

It's will be quite the spectacle when the corporeal Jobs is either iNTERRED or iNCINERATED.

[alfredo]

15. Hell yes, we celebrate all good Democrats.

[okiru109]

23. recognizing someone's talents is hard to do for some

Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself.

[Poiuyt]

21. Get well soon, Steve!