Steve Jobs isn't too rich or too thin

It's IT Blogwatch, in which we worry about Steve Jobs health. Not to mention opening the pod bay doors...
Arik Hesseldahl is adamant:

I talked with a source who is close to Apple and who who has in the past proven very well informed on the concerns of Apple senior management. This source told me with near-certainty that Jobs’ cancer has not returned.

The concerns around his health have centered on two things: His thin appearance at the Worldwide Developer’s Conference, and published reports in Fortune that in late 2003 after he first learned he had cancer, word of his condition wasn’t disclosed to investors for nine months. Having consulted with two outside lawyers, the board of directors decided that it wasn’t under any obligation to disclose anything.
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When questions were raised about his appearance at WWDC, spokeswoman Katie Cotton said he had been suffering from a “common bug,” and I’m willing to take that at face value. But having undergone surgery to remove an islet cell neuroendocrine tumor from his pancreas — which is by all accounts a major surgical procedure and which required him about a month to recuperate — even a “common bug” has the potential to affect Jobs’ appearance. I think this, more than anything else, is the source of the concern. more

Dan Pourhadi adds:

And now, exhale. Okay investors, you can buy Apple stock again.

Hesseldahl [is] referring to the fears about Steve Jobs’ health as “overblown,” and calling “incorrect” shareholders’ factoring of these fears into Apple’s stock price. He believes the extent of the health issue is an irrational buildup of FUD
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We all know and understand Steve’s importance to Apple—some say he is Apple—and there’s no doubt that Jobs leaving the company would send its stock plummeting so fast it’d need a heat shield to prevent it from incinerating. So that raises the question: How much of Steve’s personal health should be disclosed publicly, and who gets to make that call? more

But Owen Thomas is curious:

Weight loss is a common side effect of the Whipple surgery Jobs had in 2004 to treat his pancreatic cancer. One possibility, says a person familiar with the procedure speculates Jobs may have been treated for an intestinal blockage. Why is Apple PR insisting on trotting out a line about Jobs taking antibiotics to treat a "common bug," when it's so clear something more serious is going on with his health?. more

Aviv Hadar wishes people would shut up, already:

Steve Jobs is definitely more crucial of a CEO than that of most other companies. While Steve Jobs is definitely the core innovator and visionary at Apple, other business plans will weigh heavily in on their future stock price. Unnecessary speculation about Steve’s health has made the stock price suffer long enough.
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Investors definitely have the right to be concerned about Steve’s health. But they do not have the right to demand personal information, even if Steve is the CEO of a publicly traded company. Asking for information is one thing, demanding his personal health because you have a stake in the company is another. Nobody is forcing you to own the stock and if Steve’s health affects you that much as a shareholder, it is entirely within your rights to sell your Apple shares. more

Andy Zaky smells something fishy:

Steve Jobs hasn't attended a conference call in years (see archive). So any attempt to imply that Jobs' lack of presence at the conference call yesterday is related to health concerns, is either driven by a motivation to manipulate the stock price or is said with a complete lack of knowledge of how Apple's management operates things (and probably a complete lack of knowledge of Apple's fundamentals altogether).

I for one believe some hedge fund(s) decided to manipulate Apple's stock price yesterday, and spread rumors about Steve Jobs' questionable health (as if they're all physicians).
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Apple is the only stock that I know of that goes down 10% despite beating every single analyst's expectations ... across all categories. more

Peter Cohan's been here before:

Apple's board may have a duty to report on Jobs' health if he can't perform his duties.

I became familiar with this legal requirement two years ago when questions were raised to me about the health of Lazard Ltd. (NYSE: LAZ) CEO, Bruce Wasserstein. The basic requirement for a board is unclear ... it appears that there are two conflicting points of view on the topic. On the one hand, the illness of the CEO -- particularly one as highly regarded as Wasserstein -- is material information under Regulation Fair Disclosure (FD) that could cause an investor to sell if it was disclosed. On the other hand, laws such as The Health Insurance Portability Act (HIPAA) protect the privacy of employee medical records. more

And Finally...

• Open the pod bay doors

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Richi Jennings is an independent analyst/adviser/consultant, specializing in blogging, email, and spam. A 21 year, cross-functional IT veteran, he is also an analyst at Ferris Research. You can follow him on Twitter, pretend to be Richi's friend on Facebook, or just use boring old email: blogwatch@richi.co.uk.

Previously in IT Blogwatch:

• A crowdsourced $200 tablet PC
• Amazon S3 is MIA; SLA full of FAIL
• We love Apple ... We hate Apple