Apple CEO and savior Steve Jobs announced today that he will be taking a five-month leave of absence for health reasons, and is planning on returning to the company sometime this summer. Because of his glaring absence at this year’s MacWorld, his gaunt appearance, and his surgery for pancreatic cancer back in 2004, some sages in the financial world are predicting that this is the beginning of the end of his tenure at Apple–though Jobs has not publicly revealed anything specific about his health.
If–God forbid–Jobs’s health is in rapid decline due to the re-emergence of pancreatic cancer (which is usually a death sentence, like in the case of Randy Pausch), or something else equally dire, it’s not enough that the poor man has to face a serious and potentially life-threatening health issue, but he has to dance around it so as not to endanger the financial stability of his company by prompting the Chicken Littles of the financial world to start screaming the Apple sky is falling.
It’s sad, really, that the well-being of a fellow human being takes a backseat to his financial worth–at least in the eyes of investors and other economists. I’m not naive enough to believe otherwise, but wouldn’t it be refreshing if Jobs could just come clean about his health issues without having to concern himself about the financial implications to Apple? As if he doesn’t have enough else to worry about… And while I do not question nor underestimate the value of Jobs’s contributions to Apple’s success, he did not do it all alone–I’m sure Apple can boast a staff of very qualified and savvy executives who have also helped make Apple the powerhouse that it is. I’m not a financial wizard or brilliant economist, but I cannot believe that Apple will implode without Jobs at the helm.
I wish Mr. Jobs the best, and I hope his health is not as dire as his behavior and appearance suggests.