Report: SEC Probes Jobs’ Health Notices

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is probing whether Apple sufficiently informed investors of CEO Steve Jobs’ health status, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.

An unnamed source told the news organization the review does not mean Apple committed any wrongdoing, according to the report.

Last week, Apple announced Jobs was taking a six-month medical leave of absence after being informed his health troubles were “more complex” the previously announced. Prior to the announcement, Jobs had assured the Mac community an ailment that had prompted speculation was due to a “hormonal imbalance” the Apple co-founder described as “easily treatable.”

However, the latest pronouncement by Apple has failed to quell talk that Jobs’ health problems are connected to a 2004 pancreatic cancer.

Earlier this week, an assistant professor of management at a Texas university said the SEC should require CEOs inform investors if health problems force leaves of absence, as in the case of Apple’s Jobs.

“I think the SEC should take a more proactive stance,” Alexa A. Perryman of the Neely School of Business at the Fort Worth-based Texas Christian University. The paper, “When the CEO is Ill: Keeping Quiet or Going Public,” was quoted by Macworld.

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