No one wants to pry into Steve Jobs’ health and everyone wishes him the best. But the inconvenient reality is that chief executives of public companies have limited rights to medical privacy. Apple’s market capitalisation is $320bn, but that is not the point. Shareholders own it, and Mr Jobs works for them. They deserve, therefore, more than a
six-sentence e-mail giving no details on his sudden leave of absence, sent out on a national holiday the day before the release of full-year results. As it is, the leave – which is indefinite, unlike his 2009 absence, which gave a return date – will arouse great human concern.
What should investors do? Ultimately, it depends on whether they adhere to a “great man” interpretation of Apple, or any company for that matter. Can a single man, however inspired, really continue to define an organisation that has been public for almost three decades, buffeted from all sides by industry and economic winds, and made up of thousands of interacting individuals and processes?