“After months of uncertainty about Steve Jobs’s health, the Apple Inc. chief executive appears on track to return from medical leave this month, said people familiar with Apple,” Yukari Iwatani Kane and Joann S. Lublin report for The Wall Street Journal.
“While Mr. Jobs has been on sick leave, some Apple directors have gotten weekly updates about his medical condition from the CEO’s physician, according to a person familiar with the matter. Mr. Jobs’s recovery ‘is coming along’ and he is on schedule to return to work later this month, said this person, who has seen Mr. Jobs in recent weeks,” Kane and Lublin report.
“‘He was one real sick guy,’ added this person. ‘Fundamentally he was starving to death over a nine-month period. He couldn’t digest protein. [But] he took corrective action.’ Mr. Jobs occasionally has come into Apple’s headquarters since his leave began, said a person who has seen him there,” Kane and Lublin report.
“Speculation is mounting among Apple’s business partners and analysts about whether Mr. Jobs will make an appearance at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference next week — particularly because he is known for making surprise announcements at events,” Kane and Lublin report. “Much of the buzz appears to be conjecture of the type that has swirled around Apple and Mr. Jobs for years. But two people who do business with Apple said senior Apple managers have told them the company is now trying to coordinate Mr. Jobs’s return with a product launch or public event.”
“The past five months without Mr. Jobs have given investors confidence that Apple can run smoothly without him,” Kane and Lublin report. “Apple’s shares have risen 68% since Mr. Jobs announced his leave Jan. 14, compared with a 24% increase in the Nasdaq Composite Index over that period.”
More in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “iWill” for the heads up.]
