Apple Board Must Report Changes in Jobs’ Health
9:42 am, July 25th, 2008, Lonnie Lazar
Phot courtesy ZD Net
Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster issued a report Friday indicating Apple, Inc. Board of Directors should be obligated to inform shareholders of any material changes in Steve Jobs’ health that could impact his abilitiy to maintain his high-profile, active role in the company’s operations.
Citing the nature of Jobs’ public appearances and his active participation in the development of products like Macs and iPhones as aspects of Jobs’ role that make him material to the company’s performance, Munster wrote,”we believe that Apple’s board has a responsibility to disclose any changes that may impede him to continue to serve.”
Apple shares have been buffeted in trading since the company’s quarterly earnings call earlier this week, when CTO Peter Oppenheimer replied to questions about Jobs’ health by saying the topic is “a private matter.” A subsequent New York Times article indicated Jobs has recently been reassuring close associates that he remains cancer free in the wake of surgery earlier this year to deal with problems that had been causing him to lose weight.
Munster’s report today was meant to assure Piper Jaffray’s clients there is “no reason to believe that Steve Jobs will not continue to serve as Apple’s CEO,” and reaffirm Munster’s buy rating and $250 price target for Apple stock.
Via AppleInsider
Posted by Lonnie Lazar in Apple, Steve Jobs | Comment on this article
This is getting ridiculous. Maybe it’s simply because people buy and sell Apple stock for ridiculous reasons, but no other company in Silicon Valley, or in any major market for that matter, has to include the health of their CEO in their quarterly earnings reports. And make no mistake, when board staff changes on companies like Sun, Microsoft, IBM, HP, and others, their stock changes, but no one cares if their board members are ill or healthy.
phoenix, on July 25th, 2008 at 10:05 pm