Apple late on Jobs’ health issue?

Apple’s chief executive Steve Jobs’ letter answered questions plaguing investors about the status of his health. On January 5, Jobs sent a letter detailing his suffering from hormonal imbalance which has caused his fast weigh loss last year.

Published on Apple’s Web site, the letter states that doctors have discovered the cause of his weight loss to be “a hormonal imbalance that has been “robbing” me of the proteins my body needs to be healthy. The remedy is “simple and straightforward”, he said, and he is already beginning treatment and would still remain CEO.

Apple shares jumped 4.2% to 94.58 as investors were relieved by the disclosure.

Did Apple say enough?

Some experts are questioning if Apple said it earlier. The cite company didn’t say any health issue when they announced on Dec.6 that Jobs wouldn’t make any customary speech at the annual Macworld Expo in San Francisco. Instead, Apple said it will not join in any future Macworld events and that it’s Vice president Phil Schiller will give the Jan.6 address.

In a published interview earlier, an Apple spokesperson credited the executive’s evident weight loss to a “common bug” and then the company later claimed Job’s health a “private matter”.

The co-director of the Arthur and Toni Rembe Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford University, Joe Grundfest, says securities lawyers can “get a good debate going” to the issue if Apple was as informative as necessary.

"Some will say this is good enough, and some will argue that we finally have disclosure and that it's adequate but late," Grundfest said.

Other question raised by the disclosure is how much more Apple may be obliged to say on the issue. Will the company need to make regular updates on the executive's health?
 
In his letter, Jobs writes that his doctors "expect it will take me until late this spring to regain" lost weight and body mass. What if it takes longer? Jobs didn't want to say even as much as he did. "I've said more than I wanted to say, and all that I am going to say, about this," he wrote at the conclusion of his letter.