Jobs Takes Sick Leave at Apple Again, Stirring Questions
By MIGUEL HELFT
Published: January 17, 2011
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Steven P. Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, at the company’s headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., last October.
r. Jobs, 55, who recovered from pancreatic cancer after surgery in 2004, has not appeared at public events since October, and has looked increasingly frail in recent weeks, according to people who have seen him.
An Apple spokeswoman, Katie Cotton, said Apple would have no further comment beyond a brief public statement in which Mr. Jobs announced he was turning daily oversight of the company’s operations over to the chief operating officer, Timothy D. Cook.
While Apple and Mr. Jobs provided no more details of his illness, Mr. Jobs suffers from immune system problems common in people who have received liver transplants, said a person who knows him well, but who requested anonymity in order to maintain a relationship.
As a result, his health suffers from frequent “ups and downs,” the person said. Mr. Jobs, who has tried to keep his condition private, has in recent weeks begun a down cycle. Mr. Jobs has reduced his trips to the office, coming in about two days a week, and has appeared increasingly emaciated, the person said. He has frequently had lunch in his office, rather than in the company cafeteria, the person said.
Mr. Jobs said he would remain chief executive and said he hoped to return to Apple as soon as he could. Medical experts said that recipients of liver transplants often suffered from a variety of medical problems that were not life-threatening. According to statistics compiled in 2009 by the federal government, among patients who receive liver transplants, 20.7 percent die in the first three years, on average.
Mr. Jobs is taking a leave at a critical time for Apple. The company has outflanked most of its rivals in the technology industry with the iPhone and the iPad, which have been blockbuster hits with consumers. But giants like Google, Microsoft and Samsung have narrowed Apple’s lead or even surpassed the company by some measures.
Mr. Jobs’s leave is certain to cause anxiety with investors and consumers, because of the heightened competition the company faces. Perhaps more than any other chief executive, he is seen as inseparable from his company’s success.
“He may be the most vital C.E.O. of our era,” said Michael Useem, a professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and director of its Center for Leadership and Change Management.
Analysts noted that unlike his previous leave, when Apple said Mr. Jobs would be gone for six months, this time Mr. Jobs did not specify how long he would be out. “It raises the bigger question about whether he’ll ever return,” A. M. Sacconaghi Jr., an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Company, said.
Shares of Apple immediately fell on foreign exchanges Monday, decreasing 7.6 percent in Frankfurt. Financial markets in the United States were closed on Monday in observance of Martin Luther King’s Birthday.
“It is natural that investors will expect the worse,” said Charles Wolf, an analyst with Needham & Company, adding that Apple has a history of “minimal disclosure” and “obfuscating” details about Mr. Jobs’s health.
During his previous leave of absence, Apple kept details of Mr. Jobs’s health private, prompting criticism among some shareholders who contended that the company had an obligation to be more forthcoming with information.
In his message to the staff on Monday, Mr. Jobs said, “My family and I would deeply appreciate respect for our privacy.”
Mr. Jobs announced his leave on Monday in an e-mail to employees that said he was stepping aside “so I can focus on my health” but would continue to be involved in strategic decisions at the company. “I love Apple so much and hope to be back as soon as I can,” Mr. Jobs wrote in the message, which was made public by Apple.
Mr. Cook, 50, will run day-to-day operations, Mr. Jobs said. Mr. Cook performed the same duties during Mr. Jobs’s medical leave in 2009.
“I have great confidence that Tim and the rest of the executive management team will do a terrific job executing the exciting plans we have in place for 2011,” Mr. Jobs wrote.
Mr. Jobs is known as a perfectionist, an exacting taskmaster who demands meticulous attention to detail, a management style that makes him difficult to work for, but which also helped Apple develop must-have products.
He is said to pay close attention to major decisions like whether Apple should develop a phone before a tablet, for example. He also pays attention to the most picayune cosmetic details, like ensuring that the colors of Google’s logo were exactly right on early versions of the iPhone.
He is credited with anticipating the desires of consumers time and again, leading Apple to create one breakthrough product after another. During most of his last absence, Mr. Jobs remained in almost daily telephone contact with other top executives as he monitored the progress of the iPhone 4 and the iPad. He was out of contact for a brief period only while recovering from his transplant.
Mr. Wolf said that regardless of whether Mr. Jobs returned to Apple, the company would probably continue doing well for the foreseeable future, although its long-term prospects were more uncertain.
While Apple and Mr. Jobs provided no more details of his illness, Mr. Jobs suffers from immune system problems common in people who have received liver transplants, said a person who knows him well, but who requested anonymity in order to maintain a relationship.
As a result, his health suffers from frequent “ups and downs,” the person said. Mr. Jobs, who has tried to keep his condition private, has in recent weeks begun a down cycle. Mr. Jobs has reduced his trips to the office, coming in about two days a week, and has appeared increasingly emaciated, the person said. He has frequently had lunch in his office, rather than in the company cafeteria, the person said.
Mr. Jobs said he would remain chief executive and said he hoped to return to Apple as soon as he could. Medical experts said that recipients of liver transplants often suffered from a variety of medical problems that were not life-threatening. According to statistics compiled in 2009 by the federal government, among patients who receive liver transplants, 20.7 percent die in the first three years, on average.
Mr. Jobs is taking a leave at a critical time for Apple. The company has outflanked most of its rivals in the technology industry with the iPhone and the iPad, which have been blockbuster hits with consumers. But giants like Google, Microsoft and Samsung have narrowed Apple’s lead or even surpassed the company by some measures.
Mr. Jobs’s leave is certain to cause anxiety with investors and consumers, because of the heightened competition the company faces. Perhaps more than any other chief executive, he is seen as inseparable from his company’s success.
“He may be the most vital C.E.O. of our era,” said Michael Useem, a professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and director of its Center for Leadership and Change Management.
Analysts noted that unlike his previous leave, when Apple said Mr. Jobs would be gone for six months, this time Mr. Jobs did not specify how long he would be out. “It raises the bigger question about whether he’ll ever return,” A. M. Sacconaghi Jr., an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Company, said.
Shares of Apple immediately fell on foreign exchanges Monday, decreasing 7.6 percent in Frankfurt. Financial markets in the United States were closed on Monday in observance of Martin Luther King’s Birthday.
“It is natural that investors will expect the worse,” said Charles Wolf, an analyst with Needham & Company, adding that Apple has a history of “minimal disclosure” and “obfuscating” details about Mr. Jobs’s health.
During his previous leave of absence, Apple kept details of Mr. Jobs’s health private, prompting criticism among some shareholders who contended that the company had an obligation to be more forthcoming with information.
In his message to the staff on Monday, Mr. Jobs said, “My family and I would deeply appreciate respect for our privacy.”
Mr. Jobs announced his leave on Monday in an e-mail to employees that said he was stepping aside “so I can focus on my health” but would continue to be involved in strategic decisions at the company. “I love Apple so much and hope to be back as soon as I can,” Mr. Jobs wrote in the message, which was made public by Apple.
Mr. Cook, 50, will run day-to-day operations, Mr. Jobs said. Mr. Cook performed the same duties during Mr. Jobs’s medical leave in 2009.
“I have great confidence that Tim and the rest of the executive management team will do a terrific job executing the exciting plans we have in place for 2011,” Mr. Jobs wrote.
Mr. Jobs is known as a perfectionist, an exacting taskmaster who demands meticulous attention to detail, a management style that makes him difficult to work for, but which also helped Apple develop must-have products.
He is said to pay close attention to major decisions like whether Apple should develop a phone before a tablet, for example. He also pays attention to the most picayune cosmetic details, like ensuring that the colors of Google’s logo were exactly right on early versions of the iPhone.
He is credited with anticipating the desires of consumers time and again, leading Apple to create one breakthrough product after another. During most of his last absence, Mr. Jobs remained in almost daily telephone contact with other top executives as he monitored the progress of the iPhone 4 and the iPad. He was out of contact for a brief period only while recovering from his transplant.
Mr. Wolf said that regardless of whether Mr. Jobs returned to Apple, the company would probably continue doing well for the foreseeable future, although its long-term prospects were more uncertain.
“Right now Apple has a management team that is one of the greatest in American business,” Mr. Wolf said. “Whatever trajectory the company is on will continue for two to five years, regardless of whether Steve comes back.”
Still, Apple faces increasing competition, especially in the smartphone market, where handsets powered by Google’s Android software recently began outselling the iPhone in the United States. Some analysts said the rise of Android led to Apple’s recent decision to begin offering the iPhone on Verizon Wireless starting next month, ending more than three years of exclusivity on AT&T.
Apple also faces sharper competition in tablet computers. The company’s iPad, introduced last spring, became an instant hit with consumers. But less than a year later, companies like Samsung, Research In Motion, Motorola and others have introduced or announced a string of credible competitors.
Analysts have confidence in the executive team because during Mr. Jobs’s 2009 leave, Mr. Cook successfully steered the company as it developed critical products. “Last time, Tim elevated his status with shareholders and employees,” Mr. Sacconaghi said. “The company did very well in Steve’s absence and various constituencies were pleased with that.”
In recent months, Mr. Jobs has looked increasingly frail and has sometimes needed to lean on others while walking, according to people who have seen him. He was expected to appear at an announcement with Rupert Murdoch, chief executive of the News Corporation, this week, but that event was postponed. The event was scheduled to announce a new publication for the iPad.
Medical experts say a variety of problems could affect someone with a liver transplant.
Dr. Lewis W. Teperman, the director of transplant surgery and vice chairman of surgery at the Langone Medical Center of New York University, said: “It’s very common for transplant patients to have issues that are not life-threatening. We give them very strong, high-powered medications, immuno-suppressants, to prevent rejection.” Dr. Teperman said he had no knowledge of Mr. Jobs’s case.
Side effects from the drugs include high blood sugar and diabetes, kidney damage, diarrhea, high blood pressure, high blood fats and cholesterol, rashes and low counts of white blood cells. The drugs leave patients prone to infection.
Dr. Teperman said it was extremely rare for a liver transplant to be totally rejected. The original reason for Mr. Jobs’s transplant was never publicly disclosed. At the time, doctors not involved in his case said the most likely reason was that his pancreatic cancer had spread to his liver. If that was the case, it was possible that cancer had recurred.
“There are lots of bumps in the road with transplantations, and people usually get through them,” he said.
Still, Apple faces increasing competition, especially in the smartphone market, where handsets powered by Google’s Android software recently began outselling the iPhone in the United States. Some analysts said the rise of Android led to Apple’s recent decision to begin offering the iPhone on Verizon Wireless starting next month, ending more than three years of exclusivity on AT&T.
Apple also faces sharper competition in tablet computers. The company’s iPad, introduced last spring, became an instant hit with consumers. But less than a year later, companies like Samsung, Research In Motion, Motorola and others have introduced or announced a string of credible competitors.
Analysts have confidence in the executive team because during Mr. Jobs’s 2009 leave, Mr. Cook successfully steered the company as it developed critical products. “Last time, Tim elevated his status with shareholders and employees,” Mr. Sacconaghi said. “The company did very well in Steve’s absence and various constituencies were pleased with that.”
In recent months, Mr. Jobs has looked increasingly frail and has sometimes needed to lean on others while walking, according to people who have seen him. He was expected to appear at an announcement with Rupert Murdoch, chief executive of the News Corporation, this week, but that event was postponed. The event was scheduled to announce a new publication for the iPad.
Medical experts say a variety of problems could affect someone with a liver transplant.
Dr. Lewis W. Teperman, the director of transplant surgery and vice chairman of surgery at the Langone Medical Center of New York University, said: “It’s very common for transplant patients to have issues that are not life-threatening. We give them very strong, high-powered medications, immuno-suppressants, to prevent rejection.” Dr. Teperman said he had no knowledge of Mr. Jobs’s case.
Side effects from the drugs include high blood sugar and diabetes, kidney damage, diarrhea, high blood pressure, high blood fats and cholesterol, rashes and low counts of white blood cells. The drugs leave patients prone to infection.
Dr. Teperman said it was extremely rare for a liver transplant to be totally rejected. The original reason for Mr. Jobs’s transplant was never publicly disclosed. At the time, doctors not involved in his case said the most likely reason was that his pancreatic cancer had spread to his liver. If that was the case, it was possible that cancer had recurred.
“There are lots of bumps in the road with transplantations, and people usually get through them,” he said.
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