Steven P Jobs

Steve Jobs' medical condition turned out to be more serious than Apple Inc. officials had previously acknowledged -- and that has analysts and legal experts questioning whether the company ran afoul of federal securities rules. Apple had disclosed in early January that Jobs had a "hormone imbalance" and would take a leave of absence, but never said he was so sick that he needed a liver transplant. Companies are not required to divulge medical details about executives, lawyers said.

Apple Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs broke with his usual code of secrecy Monday to explain his health problems, but the disclosure that a hormone imbalance was causing his noticeable weight loss will probably do little to tamp down concerns. Medical experts said a hormone imbalance in a pancreatic cancer survivor raises red flags about a possible recurrence. Jobs said in 2004 that he had undergone surgery to treat a rare form of the deadly disease.

Some important questions can't be asked without sounding crass and insensitive. But there's no way around asking this one that's on everybody's mind, so here goes: What is Apple Inc.'s plan if Chief Executive Steve Jobs dies? The question of Jobs' health has been a live discussion thread since he announced in August 2004 that he had undergone surgery for pancreatic cancer. When Apple announced a few weeks ago that -- for the first time since his return to the Cupertino, Calif.

Some Apple Inc. investors are advocating the unthinkable: Apple Inc. without Steve Jobs running it. The charismatic chief executive, they said, should take on a new role when he returns in a week or two from a six-month medical leave -- as an advisor, thus removing himself from the rigors of overseeing day-to-day operations. His impending return spurred fresh speculation about his health and the future of the Cupertino, Calif., computer, iPod and iPhone maker.

Apple Inc. investors experienced palpitations Friday after an apparently false report that Chief Executive Steve Jobs had had a heart attack sent shares down 9% in a matter of minutes. The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating the report, which appeared just before 7 a.m. EDT on iReport .com, a user-submitted news website run by CNN.

Apple Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs lost a bid to demolish a Spanish Colonial Revival-style mansion he owns about 30 miles south of San Francisco. A California appeals court ruled Wednesday that Jobs and the city of Woodside, where the 17,250-square-foot mansion was built in about 1925, didn't consider alternatives to destroying the home. Jobs said he never liked the 30-room Jackling House -- named after its original owner, copper magnate Daniel C. Jackling -- which he bought 21 years ago.

Apple Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs was questioned by U.S. government investigators about backdating of employee stock option grants at the company, lawyers familiar with the matter said. Jobs met with officials from the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department last week in San Francisco, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the interviews were confidential.

Could Steve Jobs have benefited from backdating of stock options without actually receiving the securities in question? Legal and business experts say he might have done just that in the $7.4-billion sale last year of Pixar Animation Studios Inc. to the Walt Disney Co. Jobs, who was Pixar's chairman and chief executive, owned half of its shares and therefore reaped a big reward from the sale of the animation studio.

Apple Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs received a salary of just $1 last year, documents filed Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission said. Since returning in 1997 to the helm of the company he co-founded and catapulting Apple to record profit, the legendary Silicon Valley executive has opted to get only a token paycheck. But as of March 20, Jobs, 52, still owned more than 5.4 million restricted shares, worth about $494 million at Monday's closing price of $91.43.

Apple Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs, pressed by shareholders to detail his role in a stock option scandal, said Thursday that the issue was put to rest after a Securities and Exchange Commission probe cleared the company. "Unless you think there's a conspiracy theory involving the SEC too, I don't know what else to say," Jobs told investors at the company's annual meeting in Cupertino, Calif., where it is based.