Steve Jobs revealed a tiny bit more of his medical woes yesterday, saying that it's more complex than a hormone imbalance, and that he'll leave Apple temporarily for the next six months. I don't like when people are sick, so I hope he recovers to full health - regardless of whether his leave will become a retirement or not. My guess is that he will retire soon, and the next six months will be full of what Apple should have done in the previous ten years: Groom a successor. Unfortunately this will happen while the successor is on the job, stating the case for succession.
Apple shares (AAPL, which I own) will tumble later today. It's obvious. Apple (in the OS X and iTunes/iPod era) did a lot of things right because they rehired Jobs. Unfortunately, it seems they put all their apples in a basket named Steve Jobs. And that's the problem with kings-without-heirs-apparent. Co-founder Steve Wozniak is close to being as authentic Apple-wise as Jobs, but he hasn't been a higher-up insider in decades. At least Microsoft had Gates and Ballmer, even before Gates left his full-time post as CEO and handed it to Ballmer. At least Google has Dr. Schmidt and the two inventors/co-presidents. Apple? No such strategery.
In any case, I just might be loading up on Apple tomorrow. In this economy, I think it's good to go long in this market. The real bet, however, is having faith that the market itself will survive this economy.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Steve Jobs and the Problem with Heirless Kings
Posted by
Ryan DeRamos
at
12:07 AM
Labels: apple, health, money, steve jobs
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