Apple: 'Steve Jobs is back to work'
Technology's most closely watched chief executive is officially back on the job, according to an Apple (AAPL) spokesman.
“Steve Jobs is back to work," chief spokesperson Steve Dowling told CNN.com. "He is at Apple a few days a week and working from home the other days. We’re glad to have him back.”
Jobs, who is recovering from two major surgeries — one to remove a tumor from his pancreas nearly five years ago, the second a transplant performed two months ago to treat end-stage liver disease — was scheduled to return from a six-month leave of absence before the end of June.
Apple's share price took a hit after news of the liver transplant appeared in print on June 20, but the stock has recovered since.
Jobs was spotted on Apple's Cupertino, Calif., campus a week ago — walking on his own without cane or wheelchair — but it was unclear whether that was a one-shot appearance or the beginning of a more normal work schedule.
Today's statement suggests that he will be more present — and more deeply involved in managing Apple's affairs — than many analysts suspected.
Apple COO Tim Cook has been running the company in Jobs' absence and has won high marks Apple watchers for his steady hand.
No new photographs of Jobs have surfaced since his return (the one here was taken in June 2008). Until last week, he had not been seen in public since he hosted an Apple event in Cupertino last fall.
I´m glad Steve is back. I don´t care about the stock price, or the state of the company, or future products. I like the guy a lot and I hope he is O.K. and enjoys a healthy life for many years to come.
@fan, victoria, bc: Well, I guess, then, that he doesn't have a terminal illness. House is never wrong.
Now Steve has a different agenda:
Making sure Apple remains a dominant force for decades after his retirement.
And I'm pretty sure Apple moved 6 months ago to its transition mode.
@M: Six months ago, Apple was provided medical information by Jobs and it made the call that a six-month leave of absence was the real material effect. Apple could've told us about the liver transplant and laid out the odds and risks that he might return early, late, or never, but they decided not to because that was just odds and not a material effect.
The material effect today is that Jobs is back, just like they forecasted (as the most likely option). And again, there is no need to give us odds that he will be gone tomorrow, or next week, or next month. If medical information arrives such that there will be a material effect, Apple will tell us, just like they did six months ago.
As for donations, how do you know that he has or hasn't? Unlike Gates and Buffett, not all big-time contributors have to stroke their ego by trumpeting their good works and gain accolades from men.
If watching all 4 seasons of House over the weekend has taught me anithing, it's that you don't get approved to have a transplant if you have a terminal illness like cancer.
6/29/09
At Least Steve is back at work; he could have been looking for a job for thirty four or more years while retarded people got hired or he could have been told that if he worked, that negative things could happen to his family or he could be in the present situation in which authority figures are using his family as baraining chips to negotiate a FORCED degrading life and lifestyle and he could have been in a position so that to mention the situation to anyone made him look stupid. So Steve is working; which is a good thing; at least the above hasn't happen. Does anyone know Bill Richardson or Justin Martin; please tell them I would appreciate their helping me to negotiate the ramson for my life and my family life. Don't really know why I am having to negotiate. This is NOT a joke; normal channels of communication are constantly interferred with.(vapzzzz@att.net)
So, out of curiosity, M, how many shares of Apple do you presently own? I would guess ZERO.
I own several hundred shares, and not only am I unconcerned about Steve Jobs' health, I'm convinced that it's NONE OF MY BUSINESS!
Happy to have you back, Steve. Hope you're rested and fit, and have many decades in front of you of great health!
Of course, Apple is leaving its shareholders in the dark, as it tends to do. It didn't even disclose he had a liver transplant (until it was uncovered by others). We don't know if Jobs' cancer had spread to his liver, which of course would be bad news. It's not so much the surgeries that are at issue, it's whether his cancer has come back or will come back that's important.
It would also be nice if Jobs donated some of his enormous wealth to cancer research, but that seems unlikely.
WELCOME BACK, Steve; great period of transition for Apple! Regardless how much time 'IN' the office, this should be his period of recovery (enjoying HIS work + insuring FULL health) but more importantly, laying the groundwork for the next 10+ years. His DNA is established in Apple, and I have NO doubts, the Apple legions will have new toys to enjoy for a long time to come. Tell us folks; about how few CEOs do we give a damned? Citi? NO!!! GE? NO!! MSFT? 'ell NO!!! So few CEOs worth anything; most, should join Madogg for 150 years in prison.
Saying that he's recovering from an operation he had 5 years ago just doesn't make any sense at all! It simply is not true!
He's presumably still recovering from his operation 2 months ago, but that's it. Jeesh.
ex ped: That does sound strange. But given the nature of the surgery he underwent, I suspect he'll be dealing with the effects on his body for the rest of his life.
In response to "It would also be nice if Jobs donated some of his enormous wealth to cancer research, but that seems unlikely.", cancer research is a bit of a big business, one that ignores natural protocols proven to overcome cancer. In this regard, I think most of the public is naive. My 85 yr old Mom had a stage III bladder tumor last year, and one 0.5 cm tumor was detected on the lung. After 6 weeks of radiation and chemo, the bladder tumor had shrunk and was basically dead, but it spread further to the lungs, now with four tumors each 1.5cm. The doctor suggested another CAT scan in one month and then maybe consider a stronger chemo as it was obvious where this was heading. We gave four capsules of Earth's Aloe four times daily, plus one tablet of broccoli sprout tablets four times daily (contains sulforaphane, a proven cancer eraser). The followup scan showed no lung tumors.
Unfortunately, the light chemo that she initially received damaged the remaining kidney such that blood transfusions were needed until the doctors finally determined that it was necessary to receive erythiopoetin (probably misspelled) injections every two weeks to send the hormonal signal which should come from the kidney and goes to the bone marrow to instruct it to make more blood. That shot costs $3,700 (although after Medicare it is about $300). Most chemo patients need that. You can see the big pharmaceutical influence. The chemo did not cure her cancer; the natural products did. Chemo obliterates the immune system, but exactly the opposite is needed. Eventually the dampened immune system and impaired kidney gave way to infections and she expired this past June. I regret that we did not pick up on some of the early symptoms and provide supplementation for the kidney and immune system at that time. Interested readers will find some eye opening information and good nutritional health ideas at http://www.naturalnews.com.