Make of this what you will, but Apple God CEO Steve Jobs will miss Apple’s Annual Meeting on the 25th. This marks the first time he has missed this meeting since he returned from exile to the company over ten years ago. This has started the usual round of rumors about his health (which I will not participate in). But more importantly, criticism about how his temporary departure has been handled by Apple has resurfaced:
“The company has a responsibility to let public shareholders know that the organizational structure will be sound if Steve Jobs has to leave for any reason,” said Apple investor Ryan Jacob, head of the Jacob Internet Fund. Apple is the fund’s third-largest holding, accounting for 5.9 percent of its investments as of Dec. 31. The amount of disclosure about what’s going on has been “poor at best,” he said.
I expect this to be a very “interesting” annual meeting to say the least as I expect a lot of these issues to come to a head.