“More than any other technology company, Apple Inc. has succeeded in giving its fans products they lust for and the press fodder for speculation on its secretive ways. But even more, its leader Steve Jobs is such an icon to the faithful that he can unwittingly take attention away from a major new product launch,” Therese Poletti reports for MarketWatch.
“That was evident this week when the company unveiled its new faster, cheaper iPhone… But a strong undercurrent at the event focused on the emaciated appearance of co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs. While Jobs looked especially gaunt in his trademark black turtleneck and faded jeans, other Apple executives spent more time on the stage during his keynote address — a notable move for an executive who typically spends much of his speech rallying the Mac faithful and introducing many products himself,” Poletti reports.
“This created a dilemma of sorts for those of us in the business and technology press, but it is also not the first time his appearance has caused concern. In 2004, Jobs successfully battled pancreatic cancer, and since then, there has been occasional speculation about his health after one of his public appearances,” Poletti reports.
“Jobs’ health is an even more pertinent issue given Apple’s history of being less-than-forthcoming with investors about such matters,” Poletti reports. “Investors did not learn of Jobs’ last bout with cancer until after his surgery. Fortune reported earlier this year that Jobs was diagnosed with a rare but treatable form of pancreatic cancer in 2003 and avoided surgery for nine months while he tried alternative remedies. Apple’s board of directors sat on the news the entire time after consulting with attorneys, who reportedly advised the company that they could remain silent on the issue to investors.”
“Katie Cotton, an Apple spokeswoman, told reporters who inquired that Jobs was hit with a common bug two weeks ago and he’s been on antibiotics, getting better day by day and didn’t want to miss WWDC. ‘That’s all there is to it,’ she told Dow Jones Newswires on Tuesday,” Poletti reports. “We all hope that is the case.”
More in the full article, including side-by-side photos of Jobs from WWDC 2007 vs. WWDC 2008, here.
I too became very concerned about Steve’s health when I watched the Quicktime vid of WWDC 2008.
There’s thin and then there’s too thin; almost emaciated…
Let’s all hope it’s just because he needs more carbs in his diet.
Get well soon, Steve.
It all depends on what you consider is normal for a man. Amongst people who are considerably overweight, he looks thin, but by the standards of those who eat the sort of diet that he does, he looks normal.
This story is one that crops up from time to time and appears to be an excuse to make the stock price unstable. It’s hard to fault the products, so they try to undermine confidence in the man behind the products.
It’s almost like he is the President Of The United States or something. Give the guy a break. I feel like crap once in a while, and look it too.
The boy didn’t look well at all. It was the first thing I noticed when he walked on stage. The only time I’ve seen people lose so much weight is when they had some sort of serious medical condition. I like Steve Jobs, I really hope he’s alright.
There’s something going on with his health, you can’t lose that much weight just on a bug.
Hopefully this is not the end… even though a tragic one will make this genius even more legendary.
Anyone who watched the keynote or looks at the pictures of Steve on stage can see how thin and frail he really looks. While the people at Apple say he was “a little under the weather” it seems to me that there maybe something else going on. To put my “wants” for Apple products on hold for now I want Steve to get well and get healthy. While I do believe he has an ego he has done more to turn around Apple and stand the communications industry on its head than anyone. He is a man of vision and passion but sometimes you need time to do nothing and enjoy the fruits of your labor.
I admire Steve a lot even though I don’t agree with the way he intimidates his employees. Before his return to Apple the company had become the laughing stock of the industry and the stock was more valuable as napkins than in a portfolio. He has been portrayed as having a huge ego and demanding more and more for the people who work for him but I believe very few people could have done what he did at Apple.
He transformed the music business and caught all the electronics companies with their knickers down. He has taken the Mac platform to be the industry standard in the computer business and has Apple making money hand over fist. Yes the routing of the jeans and black mock tee is getting tired but then when you deliver like he has you can wear whatever you want.
Passionate people can burn out as their passion drives them and I don’t want that to happen to Steve. I hope and believe that he needs to take some time off, a month or two, so that he can relax and enjoy the impact he has had on consumers. This would also be a great opportunity to start training his successor to see if he, or she, can lead with the same passion that Steve has.
The people on Wall Street will be looking at Jobs health as an asset that could make the stock go down or up…I look at Steve as a person who may be really sick whom I admire and want around for a long long time to come. Please Steve get well we want lots more Apple stuff in years to come !
I think he is just thin. I don’t believe he has any serious health problems. If he did, it’s his private affairs. We don’t have a right to know, unless he wants to tell us, and if he was ill, and it will effect his running of Apple, I’m sure he would resign as CEO, because he loves Apple, and wants it to succeed. He wouldn’t want his illness to keep Apple back.
If he is seriously ill, I feel for him, and his family.
I really don’t get all this talk about Mr. Jobs being ill. I’m a thin man, I look thin, I’d say i was about the same build as Mr. Jobs. But I’m not ill, I just eat healthily and work out a lot. Plus, hasn’t Steve ALWAYS been ‘average’. He’s also in his 50s, so age is catching up with him (luckily I’m only 30, 2 more decades before I’m his age).
I think this is a lot of hot air about nothing. Apple have already said he has had a bug, plus he’s been traveling all around the world signing deals to get the iPhone launched.
I think he looks great. Lean and mean – just like OS X!
By ‘average’, I mean his build.
In no way am I insinuating Mr. Jobs is Joe Average!
I’m sorry, all you have to do is look at the before and after shots of Steve Job and you can see he’s lost a lot of weight.
I am concerned about Steve, but this woman has historically been an idiot when writing about Apple. She uses the same basless information and tired generalizations about Apple that any writer who fails to do any research uses when writing about Apple.
“I think he is just thin. I don’t believe he has any serious health problems.”
I disagree, there is serious health concern with Steve Jobs. The guy not only looked thinner thant thin, but also wasn’t as energetic as usually… It looks serious my friend.
Mac+
It will be a sad day when Steve Jobs is no more. He is the greatest innovator of our era. I hope he is ok…he does look a tad thin.
So what do you frigtards want? Would it make you feel better if ol’ Stevie boy porks out and gets a beer belly? Or, maybe you would feel comforted if he turned into a fat ass like Ballmer. Now, there’s a REAL man! (Until he keels over from the big one, that is.)
Puleeze. Don’t play into this, you chowderheads. Don’t you realize this story is being pushed by hedge funds trying to short Apple stock? You’re being played, people. Be smarter than that.
Consider this: to close deals in the past few months with major telcos so that Apple could penetrate 70 countries with the iPhone, it involved a ton of travel by a certain CEO. I know from experience that this can be grueling. Getting the iPhone ready for market has to be stressful. And consider Steve’s diet – not much fat there. But given how most of us never met a fast food drive-thru lane we didn’t like, in our supersize-me view of the world, Steve looks like he’s dying.
Truth be told, he’s not.
Other posters who have actually MET Steve and worked with him recently said he’s got a ton of energy. Perhaps that comes from being lean, not a fat pig like a certain monkeyboy who shall remain nameless.
When will you guys leave this story alone and move on to something else ridiculous to obsess about? There’s nothing to see here, folks. Move along. Please.
If you’re a man, in your 50s, in a management position, and you want to be taken seriously by teams where you’re older than everyone else, you’ve got to be thin. If you look like a puffy, out-of-touch baby boomer, nobody will listen to you.
have you looked at the other people that went up on stage? Most of them looked like they could use a sandwich or two themselves.
Also im not liking this large talk about him being sick its making my stock drop like a sack of potatoes and no one knows the truth. Hopefully Steve will come out and say everything is fine so we can all relax a bit. Though with the huge drop since keynote and up until now, looks like a good time to get some money ready to buy more stocks right before that iphone comes out.
my 2 cents
@ Jamie – plus he’s been traveling all around the world signing deals to get the iPhone launched.
Did he actually go to all countries, and be there for the deal himself? I know he is the CEO, and he wants to make sure things go right, but that seems a bit much to me.
@ Mac+ – I disagree, there is serious health concern with Steve Jobs. The guy not only looked thinner thant thin, but also wasn’t as energetic as usually… It looks serious my friend.
Those presentation looked very complex, and maybe he thought it be best that people who had more hands on experience, would be better to present those sections of the keynote?
Also, he can’t do the whole keynotes on his own forever. When he does finally leave Apple, the stock would simply crash, as most people think Apple would crumble to the ground without Steve jobs. He has to get that image out there, that Apple is more than Steve Jobs, and Apple will continue to grow, even when He isn’t there anymore.
I watched the Key note.
I looked up Steves age, 53.
I looked at the pics of him from Macworld introducing the MacBook Air.
Conclusion: he is the same weight now as he was then – but he has SHAVED off that grey beard.
Seriously, look at this pic:
There is nothing wrong with Steve except for the virus, and there are some nasty flu’s going around this Spring/Summer.
OK, but the bottom line is this: Who, besides SJ has a say in product and /or style decisions? Does anybody really know? Forget the CULT of Steve Jobs.
This is huge. This is the most important question we need to know about Apple. It’s ABSOLUTELY NOT whether Apple will sell 10m IPhones this year, or when 10.6 comes out.
Most of us have an emotional attachment to Apple, but it would be absolutely outrageous Apple doesn’t have a plan of secession in place.
Any company of any size that doesn’t take the mortality of the CEO/guiding light into consideration in planning the future is asking for trouble.
“Don’t you realize this story is being pushed by hedge funds trying to short Apple stock?”
Oh yeah, now we’re back again with those big conspiration theories… total lack of objectivity from you part.
“he’s got a ton of energy.”
Please, take another look at the keynote, and see for yourself the lack of energy… it’ll help you get rid of your lack of objectivity.
He’s dying and stockholders need to be told.
Steve seemed to have good energy in the keynote. His health seemed good to me. He is very slim, but, if intentional and well controlled that can be good. It is the thin people who live to a ripe old age. There are studies that show nearly starving yourself adds years to one’s life. It is Phil Schiller who has a health problem. He is fat. He could drop dead any day now!
Don’t you think if Steve really was ill there would be rumors from those who know him and see him on a daily basis? I think there would be. I hope and I think he is well.
To Wall Street insiders this is a great opportunity to drive the stock down a bit before the G3 phone starts selling and earnings numbers are released which push the price back up. They like nothing better than to move a stock down when they are pretty sure it will come back up. Buy low. Sell high. Easy money.
He looks like an Auschwitz survivor.
The stock is being heavily shorted today which is why the stock price is being beaten like a red-headed step child. This is just the beginning, folks, of the big downturn.
Best wishes, Stevie.