“Apple Inc. may find its most valuable asset is something it can’t protect through patents or secrecy: Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs,” Connie Guglielmo reports for Bloomberg.
Guglielmo reports, “If Jobs were to leave, shares of the Cupertino, California- based company might drop 25 percent or more, analysts say. That would erase about $20 billion in Apple’s market value. ‘It would be a disaster,’ said Gene Munster, an analyst with Piper Jaffray & Cos. in Minneapolis, who’s had an ‘outperform’ rating on Apple’s shares since June 2004. ‘He would be almost impossible to replace.'”
“The computer maker’s dependence on its CEO was illustrated the last week of December, when the stock dropped as much as 5.8 percent after The Recorder, a San Francisco-based legal publication, reported Apple had faked documents to backdate stock options,” Guglielmo reports. “On Dec. 29, the company said its own investigation, led by Apple director and former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, cleared Jobs of any wrongdoing. That eased concern Jobs may have to step down and sent the shares up 4.9 percent.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Gandalf” for the heads up.]
Related articles:
Could Apple thrive without Steve Jobs? – January 04, 2007
Analyst: U.S. Gov’t unlikely to ‘nail Apple and Steve Jobs’ – December 28, 2006
What would Apple be worth without Steve Jobs? – December 27, 2006
Piper Jaffray: Steve Jobs not at risk in stock options case – December 27, 2006
What happens when Steve Jobs dies? – August 20, 2003
@Get Real
Put up or shut up; where do you get your information? I reject your reality and substitute my own. Hater.
Oh, and it’s accompanies, not accompanys.
Do you see that red underline beneath your misspelled words? No? Then you really should invest in a decent spell checker or dictionary ’cause your mom and dad wasted the money spent on your education.
@ Gandalf –
“Steve has always shown independence, money doesn’t drive him, making good stuff that makes people’s lives better does”
Money doesn’t drive a businessman? I would disagree.
I agree that Steve is concerned with making great products, but let’s not kid ourselves here. The guy is in business to drive his profits.
Why else would someone be in business? We all make Steve Jobs out to be this Guru or something…remember the mighty dollar speaks louder than anything.
Unfortunately.
G4: Your grammar isn’t exactly exemplary, either. Learn how to use a semicolon, for starters.
David Beckham??? irreplacable? Maybe to Pepsi. To football; F*ck no.
Steve Jobs can be replaced. We are mortals.
As long as the next CEO has vision, common sense, balls and commitment, Apple is all good. That kind of people don’t grow on trees.
Mac OS X is the basement of the whole company. Fix those MOAB security holes and make sure the Leopard doesn’t have too many holes/bugs and Apple has really good chances to gaining MarketShare (a.k.a MS) 😀
My only fear is that Apple leaves OS X security sitting where it is now. That’s what Ballmer-type CEO would do.
Correction: keep gaining market share.
Damn these hiccups, once they start, they don’t go away.
JEEZ Connie: talk about a non-sequitur.
Here’s the facts:
• Apple’s stock went down 5.8 percent after the Recorder, a San Francisco-based legal publication, reported Apple had faked documents to backdate stock options.
• After an investigation, led by Apple director and former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, cleared Jobs of any wrongdoing, Apple’s shares went back up 4.9 percent.
• According to a Piper Jaffray analyst, if Jobs were to leave, shares of the Cupertino, California- based company might drop 25 percent or more. That would erase about $20 billion in Apple’s market value.
In spite of the above, Connie then quotes James Post, a professor of management at Boston University: “The desire to protect Jobs’ iconic status comes at the expense of shareholders.”
Apple last month took an $84 million charge to account for the backdated options. THIS IS PEANUTS COMPARED TO THE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS APPLE’S SHAREHOLDERS HAVE MADE BY HAVING JOBS ON-BOARD.
James Post (the professor at Boston University) sounds like your standard professor in a tweed jacket (with leather patches on the elbows). He’s anxious for a scapegoat; “take it outa the hide of ‘The Man.’” Connie shouldn’t have even quoted the guy.
It’s every bit in the interests of Apple’s shareholders to protect Jobs and keep him at the helm and tightly focused on making cool new products the public wants rather than be worried about his personal legal affairs. The U.S. trade deficit with China is big enough without hobbling one of America’s most successful manufacturers of consumer electronics.
Gandalf: Greg L makes a damn good point. If you owned Apple stock, you’d want Steve at the helm and would hope to hell that he was enumerated sufficient to keep him there.
Greg L.: Isn’t Apple one of reason the US trade deficit with China is increasing?
Get Real,
get real.
Peace out dude, its ok to have a different opinion here. The only thing Mac users think alike on is the inanimate object we call computers (hopefully that will be changing soon, the name computers that is). Just start a discussion on politics, economy, favorite foods and drinks, favorite position [you know]. It’ll just be one flame followed by another. In spite of what you’ve heard we are not a cult, just a group with one, and only one, interest in common – outside of that interest we’re painfully independent.
So as a person with a mind obviously your own, welcome aboard!
S: Good point. However, ALL American manufacturers of electronics use Chinese-made components at the very least. Often, the assembly is done in China and the components come from all over the world—including China. But every sale of Apple products to overseas buyers brings revenue to the U.S. and all that revenue helps to pay all of Apple’s engineers. Anything that helps the U.S. rake in money from other countries is good. That’s why China’s near-nonexistent enforcement of piracy laws hurts so much: U.S. production houses pay through the nose for the many flops they make and need every dollar they can get off the occasional hit. China must think America is a land of retards. We pay them good money to adopt their children (they’ve got too many of those) and even pay them big bucks for Panda bears. Then they turn around and turn a blind eye when they pirate movies and electronic goods. Anyway, that’s off-topic. Regardless of where the manufacturing occurs, having the current “Walkman” in the U.S. rather than Japan is good for the U.S.