Back in June, pancreatic cancer survivor and Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs appeared at a conference appearing excessively thin and out of it, spurring rumors that Jobs was sick, possibly with another occurrence of cancer.Joe Nocera reports that Jobs is now blaming the rumors on "hedge funds with a big short position in Apple."
Color me unconvinced. When a high-profile cancer survivor appears gaunt and sickly, there is no need for a nefarious conspiracy to spur questions about his health. Nocera has an interesting theory: "I think he likes having half the world wondering about his health. I think he likes the fact that Bloomberg accidentally put his obituary on the Web. It's a lovely reminder about just how important he is in the culture. It means half the world is spending time thinking about, well, him. Far more than anyone in hedge fund land, he himself was most responsible for the rumors, by acting so absurdly secretive. His narcissism isn't pretty, but it sure is effective."
An interesting theory, and Nocera knows of what he speaks: back in 1986, he interviewed Jobs shortly after he had left Apple -- you can find that interview in Nocera's book.
In any case, Jobs appears to be reasonably healthy and investors may benefit from the chip on his shoulder. In the long run though, investors should always be wary of companies that are overly dependent on the mind of one executive, especially one with a history of health problems.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-11-2008 @ 3:57PM
ekrabs said...
I don't normally comment just to say, "amen" but... amen!
9-10-2008 @ 4:47PM
FMarra7777 said...
I think that Steve Jobs might have only had it half right. Not only was it rumor mongering, but I think that it also had to do with parasites that write blogging articles and try to pass themselves off as journalists just to get hits!!!!
9-11-2008 @ 5:04PM
Beltway Greg said...
I normally cannot shut my GD mouth but I've got to say "amen" keep the faith.