Board member considered resigning

Jerry York -- the recently deceased member of Apple's board of directors -- was a strong opponent of the handling of Steve Jobs' health, according to the Wall Street Journal. Jobs took a six-month leave of absence beginning in January of last year, initially citing a "hormonal imbalance" as the cause. The situation was far more dire than the company admittedly publicly however, and Jobs himself eventually confessed that he might have died if it had not been for a liver transplant that was at first kept quiet.

York almost resigned when he learned about the seriousness of Jobs' health, the Journal notes. The director argued in an interview that Jobs should have publicly disclosed his health three weeks earlier, at the same time as he was announcing his decision not to appear at the last Apple-attended Macworld. York explained that he was "disgusted" with the deception about Jobs' health, and that the only reason he didn't resign was the furor that would have erupted if he'd had to disclose his reasons for leaving. "Frankly, I wish I had resigned then," York commented.

The director's death has also left an unusual gap in the Apple board, as he was in charge of the audit committee, otherwise staffed only by William Campbell and Arthur Levinson. Apple rules dictate that the committee should have at least three members, which means that another member of the board will have to step up, or a new person will have to be hired. The latter is considered more likely by experts on corporate boards, as the Apple board is already extremely small, and none of the people left have any specialist financial skills.

by MacNN Staff