Most of you probably know who Steve Jobs is. There may be some that do not so I’ll talk about him for a moment. Steve Jobs is to Apple, what Bill Gates is to Microsoft. Not only is he a founder and leader in the company, he is attributed for really making the brand of Apple stand out. Without discussing the history of the company, you should know he is basically responsible for saving the company in the 90′s. Oh, and he supervised the drove the creation of iPod and iPhone. Even my mother is aware of those things.
Jobs has been seen as vitally important to the success of Apple. You won’t find a single company in the Fortune 500 that has a CEO more vital to the future of the company than the Jobs/Apple relationship. Were Jobs to drop dead next week, Apple stock would tank probably 50% and the company may never recover.
You should also know Steve Jobs is a survivor of pancreatic cancer, one of the worst kinds. The survival rate is less than 10% He’s also a vegan, so he doesn’t touch meat products and is naturally quite thin. At a press event last year he looked even more thin than usual. After a false rumor of his death spread and the stock tanked, the press and technology blogs started speculating about what would happen to Apple if Steve Jobs were to die.
Over the last few months this conversation has lead to questions about how much investors deserve to know about the CEO and their direct reports’ personal lives. Investors have a right to know the ins and outs of a company. This is why they are referred to as “Publicly Traded.” The public literally owns the company. Since the public has invested in the company, the public deserves to know every detail that could affect the stock price, at least thats the argument.
I can’t help but be intrigued by this development. A century into modern capitalism and this is just now becoming an issue. Currently there are no laws that say the information must be disclosed and the SEC has no regulation requiring it either. If it is written into the contract of a company executive they would be legally obligated to then disclose their health conditions.
This debate is fascinating because it really adds a new level to what you give up to lead an organization. If laws or contracts start to require public health records, on top of the long work hours, press conferences, and sheltering your family from the media, you must now reveal that herpes you got in college or the plantar wart on your foot.
At this point I’m yet to take a side in this matter. I want the discussion to continue because of the imprecations in other leadership roles. Your favorite sports team coach for instance. I’m a big fan of sports, and one of my favorite teams had a coach literally drop dead. We miss him, and the team suffered dearly for it.
Were I forced to pick I side I would prefer something like this be required in the contract for employment. Perhaps only the board of directors has a right to review the data or something along those lines. Tell me what you think about this?
Here is an article on Jobs’ health. Full disclosure, I do not own Apple stock except what is owned in my index funds.
 By The Weakonomist |
The Weakonomist is the founder of Weakonomics. Clicking the picture of the puppy will tell you more about him. If you like what you're reading consider subscribing to the blog, following him on Twitter, and checking out the related posts below. Please consider a donation if you really enjoy Weakonomics. Also keep in mind that nothing I say can be construed as financial advice. |
