Jobs' health worth $25 billion to Apple?
updated 11:30 am EDT, Mon March 29, 2010
Executive makes list of 30 'most respected' CEOs
The health of Steve Jobs may be extremely critical to Apple's monetary worth, a new Barron's report claims. Compiling its annual 30 Most Respected CEOs list, on which Jobs is present, the publication notes that stock value dropped when word came out of the CEO's medical problems; the executive was forced to take a six-month leave of absence during 2009. Particularly considering that Apple's market value recently topped $200 billion, Jobs' life is estimated by Barron's to be worth about $25 billion.
The report otherwise highlights Jobs' rescue of Apple in the late '90s, and the havoc the CEO has wrought in the movie, music and cellular industries as a result of the iPod, the iPhone and the iTunes Store. The iPad and the iBookstore are expected to have a major impact on books, magazines and newspapers, despite being forged in part during Jobs' downtime. Simultaneously, Barron's also observes that Apple workers both revere and fear their boss, who is infamous for micromanaging the company to suit his personal vision.
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Joined: Sep 2001
Oh please
$25 billion?
I can't read the entire article because it requires a subscription. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that Jobs' value to Apple (or, more precisely, AAPL) is very similar to the concept of 'goodwill' as an asset on a company's books.
If Jobs' dropped dead tomorrow, the market would freak out for sure... and smart people would dive into AAPL, because the company will do just fine without him. Yes, it's better to have Jobs than not, but the days when Jobs was the alpha and omega of Apple are long gone.