Jobs to miss his first annual shareholders meeting

Steve Jobs will not be attending Apple’s annual shareholder’s meeting later this month, the first time he has missed the event.

Apple’s annual meetings are traditionally one of the few times shareholders get to question senior executives about the company’s performance. Top of the list for many this year will be how much board members knew about the poor state of Jobs’ health.

“In the investor’s mind, Steve Jobs is the linchpin to this company’s future and there are unanswered questions,” said Charles Elson, director of the University of Delaware’s John Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance told Bloomberg.

“His health is not an isolated issue. Unfortunately, it directly relates to investors’ confidence in this business and there has not been enough transparency from the board.”

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is reportedly Apple to find out if the company misled investors over the health issues facing its chief executive and Apple investors may want to find out more about the timeline to Jobs’ decision to step back.

“The company has a responsibility to let public shareholders know that the organizational structure will be sound if Steve Jobs has to leave for any reason,” said Apple investor Ryan Jacob, head of the Jacob Internet Fund.

He described the company’s record on the disclosure as “poor at best.”

Jobs took a six month leave of absence from Apple in January, after admitting that his health problems were worse than first thought. Since then he has reportedly been considering a liver transplant.