CNBC’s Goldman: Apple’s Jobs may be in serious denial about severity of his health problems
Wednesday, January 14, 2009 - 08:42 PM EST"By now you know the news, that Apple CEO Steve Jobs is admitting that his health issues have not only become a serious distraction for him, his family and the Apple community, but they've also become more 'complex' than Mr. Jobs had originally thought," Jim Goldman reports for CNBC. "He'll take himself out of the day-to-day limelight of the company for the next six months, but not relinquish his role as CEO. Day-to-day management will now go to Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook, who assumed the same responsibilities when Jobs underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer back in 2004."
"There will be myriad questions as to how Apple has handled this issue... But the biggest question I have centers very much on the present," Goldman reports. "Last week, Jobs released a statement acknowledging a "hormonal imbalance" as the reason why his body remained so thin. It was only after 'sophisticated' blood tests that doctors finally pinned down what was plaguing him. He said in the note then that as soon as he determined he was unable to perform his duties as CEO, he'd be the first to step forward and admit it. All along, sources (and yes, there are several) inside Apple have reassured me that Jobs was firmly in charge, executing his responsibilities, and performing his role as CEO. One source, who I have known for years, told me recently that Jobs was 'fine,' and that everything was under control. All of it was fine. And I stand by every word of that reporting. Even today."
"What troubles me is what has transpired over the past week. Sophisticated tests showed Jobs he was suffering a hormone imbalance. And only a week later, he admits that something happened in these intervening days that showed him his health-related issues are more complex than he originally thought. Come on. Forgive my skepticism. That seems disingenuous to me at best; dishonest at worst. It's tantamount to fiduciary, ethical and financial whiplash," Goldman reports.
"The fact is, late last week I spoke to two well-known tech industry executives, both of whom are very close to Jobs, and one of whom had been speaking to Jobs regularly up until a couple of months ago. Neither has an axe to grind, and neither needs to manipulate Apple stock to make more money," Goldman reports. "Trust me when I tell you that both have plenty. What struck me was that both felt compelled to come to me to tell me that they had 'serious misgivings' about the state of Jobs' health. One said, based on his contact with Jobs personally, that he was in 'serious denial' about just how bad the circumstances had become. The other explained to me that he was 'deeply concerned' about Jobs, and the sudden lack of communication, the non-return of emails, ignoring chat requests, unreturned phone calls was a strong indication to him that Jobs was in 'dire' shape."
Goldman reports, "Both of these executives admitted that they had no direct knowledge of Jobs medical treatment. But both also said they were making their judgments based on their past relationships with Jobs, what he had told them, and how he was acting today... All this company had to do was be upfront with everyone from the beginning. Not telling us what we all wanted to know. But what we needed to know. Apple could have broken new ground on this front, ignited a new realm of transparency. Instead, it chose a different path. And shareholders, fans, and the Apple community are paying the price."
"That's too bad," Goldman writes. "I truly hope that Jobs comes back when he says he will, in June. But realistically, even though he says otherwise, I'm not banking on it."
Full article - very highly recommended - here.
MacDailyNews Take: Please read Goldman's full article before commenting below as there is much more background that we could not excerpt above. Goldman was working on a report regarding Jobs' health situation and was in contact with Apple about what his sources were confiding. That fact may have contributed to helping Jobs to decide to take the leave of absence. In our opinion, Jim Goldman is a straight shooter. We're praying for Steve Jobs.


This guy survived pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer is considered impossible to survive and uncureable.
Leave this guy's company alone. He's been through enough.