In a list of rumors he’s picked up from trading desks and other industry sources this morning, TheStreet.com’s Doug Kass drops this thermonuclear bombshell:
“Apple will announce that Steve Jobs will be taking a leave of absence from the company.”
That’s it. No other information is included. One might speculate that, if it were to occur, such a leave of absence might be due to the stock options imbroglio, a health issue (we hope not!), new venture (?), or some other unknown reason.
Doug Kass is founder and president of Seabreeze Partners Management, Inc., and the general partner and investment manager of Seabreeze Partners Short LP and Seabreeze Partners Short Offshore Fund, Ltd. Until 1996, he was senior portfolio manager at Omega Advisors, a $4 billion investment partnership. Before that he was executive senior vice president and director of institutional equities of First Albany Corporation and JW Charles/CSG. He also was a General Partner of Glickenhaus & Co., and held various positions with Putnam Management and Kidder, Peabody. Kass received his bachelor’s from Alfred University, and received a master’s of business administration in finance from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School in 1972. He co-authored “Citibank: The Ralph Nader Report” with Nader and the Center for the Study of Responsive Law and currently serves as a guest host on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
Full article here.
how about let the man have a holiday without an all out panic attack?
To pieterdebecker:
And, how do you know it’s absolutely (not absoletly) true!
Leave of absence is different than leaving the company. If the Steve needs some time off, fine. Take it Steve. When you come back, we’ll be ready for you.
There is no reason at all for Steve Jobs to take a leave of absense from Apple. He doesn’t even have to show up more than one or two days a year if he doesn’t want to. He could easily stay on in name only, show up for the keynotes, and devote 99% of his life to other things. There would be no reason for him to take his name off the company and crush the value of Apple’s stock.
Maybe he needs chemo.
Isn´t Castro on a leave of absence from the Cuban govt.?
Anybody have a link to a recent photo of Steve in the last 1-3 months?
This is a perfect rumor – could be a case study about rumors. Pure speculation but current circumstances (health, stock option scandal) allow debate on either side.
No interesting new products expected from Apple at MacWorld so why not start rumors regarding the personnel at Apple?
So that´s going to be the “one more thing” Steve is going to announce at Macworld.
“One more thing”, says Steve to the crowd at Macwold, “I will be taking a year or more leave of absence from Apple, because…..”
Maybe he’s gonna announce his upcoming stint at San Quentin.
Everybody knows how well Apple guards secrets. If anybody truly believe that the only person outside of Apple who is party to this big secret is a guy who publishes financial rumours and who trades in volatile stocks, then they should get in touch with me because I have a great new business opportunity that I could let them in on.
While far from over, the options thing isn’t ripe enough to prompt a LOA just yet.
The SEC hasn’t responded to the Apple internal investigation. He hasn’t been indicted on any charges, there surely hasn’t been a trial yet. Its hard to believe a LOA would be prompted by the options scandal, especially with the recent, clear support of the Apple Board.
The worst is the Jobs has been named personally in a civil lawsuit over the options back dating. Big Whup.
If speculation about a LOA has any basis in reality, it would more likely be about his health than options grant.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t a LOA mean he’ll be coming back? Why is everyone all doom and gloom?
OzzysCross101 “Correct me if I’m wrong, but doesn’t a LOA mean he’ll be coming back? Why is everyone all doom and gloom?”
Castro is on LOA, too. You think he´s coming back?
One only goes on LOA on bad news, not good news.
LOA is a politically correct way of not admitting or softening the blow of the CEO never coming back.
You think Disney is asking him to stop his day job at Apple for few months and help run Disney/Pixar?
I am leaning more to nervous breakdown from too much pressure of poor health, stock sneakiness, Apple business, Disney business and just the day-to-day pain in the ass of knowing that Al Gore is on his board of directors. (Maybe he is going to run Al’s presidential bid campaign???)
el Predicto: you’re right about there not being any/many photos of SJ recently. Why aren’t there Cupertino or airport area Apple fans willing to document his appearance coming and going?
curious george: you’re right about the Pixar back dating issues and Apple litigation which names SJ personally to will require him taking extraordinary amounts of his time.
Consider all the stress he must feel being bombarded from all directions. Even his constitution has to be taxed to a level that can not be good for someone with his recent health history.
How much time away from work, to deal with these many issues, is to much before Apple is required to report a leave of absence to the SEC?
I can’t imagine Steve dropping his iDeparture bomb at a keynote.
Leaves of absence are not good, esp. at the CEO level. This is a “one more thing” surprise nobody wants.
If it IS true maybe Steve can smooth it a bit, i.e. “We have some really great people and some really great new products, and now’s the time for me to move over a little and let them shine”.
Compare the Steve that rolled out the iMac, and the Steve from the most recent keynote.
Being the top guy at Apple has to be God-awful tough. But is it that tough? The only other job that eats up people like that is the U.S. presidency.
Any upcoming changes at Apple are all speculation. We’ll know a lot more Tuesday afternoon.
Ahh, yes… this is how we shake the nervous money out of a stock. Or give the shorts one more chance to get out.
And it works because it’s not completely discountable.
Inevitably, I want to say “welcome to the social.” *
(*in case it isn’t clear, i’d attend said social with an ipod in my pocket… ooooh there’s an Alanis knockoff… “I’ve got ipod in my pocket and the other the other is waving the zune finger”… okay forgive me it’s friday…
Maybe he’s going on LOA to write a book? Plenty of folks do that.
His kids aren’t getting any younger either — maybe he wants to spend some time with the family before they start asking, “Who the hell are YOU?” (Or, God forbid, he and the missus are having some issues that need intensive counseling…that can happen to folks in high-powered situations…)
Or could be he’s taking a LOA to test the team he has in place to replace him when he does retire — if they royally screw up, he can come back, “reassign” the lot of them and find a better bunch. He’s learned that you can’t just put a sugar water salesman in charge of the best computer company in the world…
Anyway, I’m not too worried — hey, Bill Gates announced that he was stepping down from Micro$oft and barely caused a ripple. Yeah, I know that Gates couldn’t even hold Jobs’ jockstrap, but if a company can’t survive the departure of a key person, then they’re not a company but a cult…uh oh, that hits too close to home…
What was posted today on Realmoney & Thestreet.com was changed from Doug Kass’s original posting this morning at 8am on Street Insight (an expensive stock research site)
The original post that Kass wrote was:
Here are 10 things I am hearing on the Street.
The following are 10 rumors I’ve picked up from trading desks and other industry sources this morning.
1. Apple (AAPL) will announce that Steve Jobs’ health has deteriorated (he has had pancreatic cancer) and that he will be taking a leave of absence from the company.
This was later changed for some unknown reason to:
1. Apple will announce that Steve Jobs will be taking a leave of absence from the company.
Doug Kass is a short seller who had been short the market almost all of last year – He is occasionaly accurate but also frequently wrong –
No one is going to hold a grudge against a guy whose medication made him a little loopy. Best excuse in the world is, “There I was, under the influence of mind altering drugs and then…”. Well, you get the picture, don’t you?
“He’s more like a priest, bishop, Cardinal or Pope. “
You mean they do bad deeds and try to cover it up by moving around?
I predicted here on MDN last year that Jobs would likely be taking a LOA early in 2007 due to his health. I said then that I sincerely hoped I was wrong. I still want to see how Jobs looks and how much of this week’s Keynote he carries himself, as opposed to the tag team fest we saw in 2006.
The rumor of a Stve Jobs LOA doesn’t surprise me. However, the fact that the rumor comes from Kass (who, coincidentally, manages two short funds) is reason enough to treat his comment as bunk.
After announcing the VistaMac, he’s wise to run and hide. He might as well serve the upcoming jail time while he’s at it, at least he’ll be safe from the Mac faithful inside.
I am ceo of a fairly small company and when we passed the 4 million $ annual sales mark, by order of the board, i had to get an exhaustive physical, checkup and life insurance policy. I think it was also wanted by the investors and bank, not sure but it was required, that i do know. also i have to get a thorough health & lifestyle evaluation annualy. and any health issues wether mental or physical must be reported on in the annual report
And there is talk of our company going public at some point and all the governance that that brings like requiring all health issues be listed in all future quarterly fillings with regulatory agencies.
so in a company as public as apple I am sure his health issues would have to be listed in things like Q10 and SEC and all. I understand one way to get around reporting these health issues is if the ceo or officer takes a leave of absense. i think. I am not sure on that last point. hope steve is ok. That type of cancer he has has like a realy realy high % of reoccurrance in 3 years and is often fatal in 5. i don’t know how long he has had it. but if that is true he should go and enjoy his life! we love him for giving us an alternative. steve thinks different.