The Return of the iCEO: Back on the Job

Something I had missed yesterday: the FT (and others) read the tea leaves — that by quoting Steve Jobs and calling him CEO, the iCEO is back:

Apple (AAPL) quoted Jobs and referred to him as the company’s chief executive in a press release touting the sales of 1m next-generation iPhones in their first weekend of availability.

It was the first time Jobs had been heard from in his official capacity since January, when he announced that he would need to take time off for unspecified medical issues. The company had not said in what capacity he would return.

“This effectively tells us he’s back in the job” with a backhanded disclosure, said Yair Reiner, an Oppenheimer & Co. analyst. “The intention here is to try to take Steve Jobs and not make him the lead of the story any more, to really try to refocus the investment community and Apple customers on the products and the expanding group of executives.”

And, in fact, Reuters reported Jobs visited the Apple campus Monday:

Jobs, who has been on medical leave since January, was seen by a Reuters reporter leaving the Apple campus in Cupertino, California dressed in his trademark black turtleneck and jeans. He walked out chatting with another person before climbing into a black car that then drove off.

The liver transplant rumor (leaked at a time when Apple was basking in favorable product publicity) has been confirmed. Jobs got his transplant at Methodist University Hospital in Memphis, which has one of the shortest waiting times in the country (less than 4 months).

The ethics of Apple’s non-disclosure (or misleading statements) rages on. Here is a quote from the FT:

“Some would argue that the liver transplant is the fix and is good news,” said Kirk Hanson, executive director of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University. “Some would argue the liver transplant is bad news and ought to be disclosed to shareholders. It’s a close call and depends a lot on the specific medical details.”

Is anyone else struck by the irony of Mr. Hanson’s pronouncement? (Hint: where did SCU get the seed grant that created his center? And where did the donor get his wealth?).

Comments

[brewer:]

What is the point here? Rehash a lot of other stories?

Jun 24 08:45 AM

[rrtzmd:]

...what nonsense...“This effectively tells us he’s back in the job”????...referring to Jobs as the CEO tells them he's back on the job?...how??...how else would they refer to him??...that's what he is!...and then: "Jobs, who has been on medical leave since January, was seen by a Reuters reporter leaving the Apple campus in Cupertino, California dressed in his trademark black turtleneck and jeans."...really, does the Reuters' reporter have a name?...is it a big secret?...why are there no photographs of Jobs "walking around"?...why, sure, he's out jogging around TWO MONTHS after a liver transplant!!...funny, he's doing a lot better than most liver transplants:

www.cambridge-transpla...

...geez, this is like "Bizarro World" news reporting!!!...

Jun 24 09:51 AM

[brewer:]

Hecould easily be back to work, even tennis is ok after 2 months.

Jun 24 11:36 AM

[GSlusher:]

For a moment, suppose that Jobs was, indeed, spotted on the Apple campus. Does that mean that he is "back to work"? That leap is unsupported by logic or evidence. There are other reasons that Jobs could have been at Apple, even to attend a retirement party or the like. Maybe he was checking on renovations to his office.

Jun 24 01:16 PM

[rrtzmd:]

...uhhh, noooooo...a liver transplant is major surgery and I do mean MAJOR...especially considering his condtion going into the surgery...review the link I provided in my post....and I also imagine the transplant medication side-effects are going to take a significant toll on him as well...so I'm confident he's not out running around the countryside...moreover, I suspect that if anybody did see him, they probably wouldn't recognize him -- I doubt he looks much like his old self...I'll believe he's up and about when people start posting videos of him on youtube...


On Jun 24 11:36 AM brewer wrote:

> Hecould easily be back to work, even tennis is ok after 2 months.

Jun 24 01:53 PM