Reuters - Investors eye health of Apple's Steve Jobs: report

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Investors eye health of Apple's Steve Jobs: report

Monday, Jul 21, 2008 3:28PM UTC

BANGALORE (Reuters) - Industry and investor concerns about the health of Apple Inc's <AAPL.O> Chief Executive Steve Jobs have not dimmed more than a month after he appeared dramatically thinner at the firm's annual developers' conference, The New York Post said on Monday.

While blogs and industry watchers had wondered whether 53-year-old Jobs was suffering complications from, or a reappearance of, the pancreatic cancer cured by surgery nearly four years ago, Apple had said he was fighting a "common bug" and was taking antibiotics.

Part of the reason for the concern over Jobs' health is that Apple has no succession plan in place, the paper said.

Hedge fund investors of Apple, which is scheduled to report results on Monday, are very worried, a Wall Street source who has spoken with some of the company's stakeholders told The Post.

Multiple sources, who have met with Jobs in the weeks surrounding the introduction of the iPhone 3G on July 11, said they came away troubled by his thin appearance, the newspaper said on its website.

Apple has a history of dragging its heels when it comes to admitting that Jobs is sick. His October 2003 cancer diagnosis wasn't disclosed until after the removal of a pancreatic tumor, the Post pointed out.

Recent reports have suggested that the company had known about Jobs' condition for nine months prior to the public announcement, the paper said.

Apple could not be immediately reached for comment.

(Reporting by Dhanya Skariachan in Bangalore, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)