Apple COO: Steve Jobs Has No Plans to Leave Apple

July 20th, 2008 at 3:00 PM - News by Bryan Chaffin

Despite a report in the New York Post saying that an unspecified "many" have ongoing concerns about the health of Steve Jobs, Apple COO Tim Cook told analysts Monday that Mr. Jobs isnit going anywhere.

"Ben, Steve loves Apple," Mr. Cook said in response to a question about Mr. Jobsi health from Lehman Brothers analyst Ben Reitzes. "[Mr. Jobs] serves at the CEO at the pleasure of Appleis board and has no plans to leave Apple. Steveis health is a private matter."

Mr. Reitzes cited "a New York newspaper" by way of preface when asking his question, referring to a story in the Post saying that investors were waiting a report on Mr. Jobs health. Apple has recently maintained the line that the health of its CEO is a private matter after Mr. Jobs appeared thin during the World Wide Developeris Conference in June.

Citing a number of unnamed sources, the Post said that there was still a lot of concern concerning his health. The only named source the article cited was Andrew Hargreaves, an analyst with Pacific Crest Securities, who said that trading in shares of AAPL "likely" reflects these concerns. The article then hedges by adding "at least partially."

The article was illustrated by a particularly unpleasant-looking image of Mr. Jobs from the WWDC conference.