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Apple CEO Jobs remains deeply involved in strategy
Apple Inc Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs remains deeply involved in strategic decisions while on medical leave and the company will disclose more information about his health if warranted, a director said.
- Bloomberg
- Published: 23:07 February 27, 2009
San Francisco: Apple Inc Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs remains deeply involved in strategic decisions while on medical leave and the company will disclose more information about his health if warranted, a director said.
"Nothing has changed, and Jobs remains Apple's CEO," Apple director Art Levinson said on Wednesday at the company's headquarters in Cupertino, California.
Apple has met disclosure requirements on Jobs's health, he said.
Jobs, who turned 54 Tuesday, took leave last month after saying the causes of his weight loss in 2008 were "more complex" than he originally thought. Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook, who fielded questions from investors, is overseeing day-to-day operations.
Jobs said last month that he will contribute to "major strategic decisions" while he is out through June.
Jobs didn't attend on Wednesday, the first time he hasn't led Apple's annual meeting since he retook the top job in 1997.
All of Apple's directors were present, except for Jobs and Google Inc CEO Eric Schmidt.
The company said the board would hold a meeting later.
Shareholders sang "Happy Birthday" to the absent CEO at the urging of one investor, who said he hoped to see Jobs again at next year's annual meeting.
After re-electing directors and voting on shareholder proposals, the first question was about Jobs's health.
"If there's new information that we deem is important to disclose, then that will happen," said Levinson, the CEO of Genentech Inc.
Apple has a succession plan and the board considers the issue regularly, he said.
The details of that plan remain confidential.
Corporate governance experts have faulted Apple's board for not providing more details about Jobs's health.
Jobs had successful surgery for a rare form of pancreatic cancer in August 2004. He then appeared notably thinner at Apple's developer conference in June, prompting concern that he was unwell.
"The company has a long way to go to improve its transparency," said Brandon Rees, assistant director of the investment office at the union AFL-CIO, who attended the meeting. The organisation owns Apple shares.
"I was disappointed the board wasn't more forthcoming both about how it could improve future disclosures regarding Mr Jobs's health as well as regarding the succession plan for the company given its importance to shareholders."
Jobs said last month he felt compelled to provide more details on his health after his decision to skip the Macworld conference "set off another flurry of rumours."
Jobs had given the keynote speech at the event for 11 straight years.
The Securities and Exchange Commission started an investigation into Jobs's disclosures to determine whether investors were misled, a person familiar with the matter said last month. The SEC's review doesn't mean investigators have seen evidence of wrongdoing.
General Counsel Daniel Cooperman declined to comment on the SEC investigation.
Shareholders re-elected Jobs and Apple's seven outside directors - including former US Vice-President Al Gore and Intuit Inc Chairman Bill Campbell - to one-year terms.
Campbell and Levinson are co-lead directors.
J. Crew Group Inc. CEO Millard "Mickey" Drexler, Avon Inc. CEO Andrea Jung and former International Business Machines Corp. finance chief Jerome York were also re-elected to the board.
Apple investors voted against shareholder proposals that called on the company to report its political contributions, adopt principles for healthcare reform, prepare a report on sustainability and allow shareholders to vote on pay.
Campbell, the second director to speak, said the board opposes say-on-pay plans and that the company should be flexible when setting compensation.
Cook appeared on stage with Cooperman and Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer.
He reviewed Apple's most recent quarterly results and said the company was pleased about the performance of its three major products: the Macintosh computer, iPod media player and iPhone.
"We're very confident with the strategy we have," Cook said.
Jobs, who co-founded Apple in 1976, was ousted in a management coup in 1985. He returned a dozen years later and transformed the maker of Macintosh computers into a consumer-electronics innovator with the iPod media player and iPhone.
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