Thank goodness for that

The New York Times has an article by Brad Stone about the state of Steve:

Reluctantly trying to put to rest persistent speculation about his health, the chief executive of Apple, Steven P. Jobs, disclosed in a public letter on Monday that he was recovering from a hormone imbalance that had contributed to his continuing weight loss. Mr. Jobs lamented that his decision not to give his annual Macworld keynote this week “set off another flurry of rumors about my health, with some even publishing stories of me on my deathbed.”
But contrary to reports that he was suffering from a relapse of cancer, after recovering from the pancreatic form of the disease four years ago, Mr. Jobs, 53, said that doctors had recently diagnosed his visible weight loss as the result of a hormone imbalance that was depleting proteins in his body.
Blood tests had confirmed the diagnosis, Mr. Jobs wrote, and that “the remedy for this nutritional problem is relatively simple and straightforward, and I’ve already begun treatment.”
Mr. Jobs said that he would continue to serve as Apple’s chief executive and that “I will be the first one to step up and tell our board of directors if I can no longer continue to fulfill my duties as Apple’s CEO. I hope the Apple community will support me in my recovery and know that I will always put what is best for Apple first.”
Shareholders reacted positively, bidding up Apple shares more than 4 percent, to $94.80. Shareholders had dropped the stock last week after persistent rumors circulated online that Mr. Jobs’ condition had deteriorated. “That the stock is up, on his announcement that he’s sick, tells you something,” said Shaw Wu, an analyst at Kaufman Brothers. “I think expectations were that it would be worse, that he would have to step down.”
Mr. Jobs’s illness has also raised questions about what exactly Apple is required to disclose about the health of Mr. Jobs, whose return in 1996 to the company he co-founded has ignited a remarkable run of success.
Joseph A. Grundfest, a professor of business at Stanford Law School and a former commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission, said there was little agreement among legal scholars about the responsibilities of a company when its chief executive becomes ill. “Among the arguments that are made is that the CEO has certain privacy rights,” Mr. Grundfest said. “The counter-argument to that is that there is nothing in federal securities laws about privacy rights.”
Apple announced last month that Philip W. Schiller, the company’s senior vice president for worldwide marketing, will deliver the keynote speech on Tuesday at Macworld, usually a high-profile platform for Mr. Jobs to announce new products. Mr. Schiller is among several Apple executives talked about as potential successors to Mr. Jobs. Others include Timothy Cook, Apple’s chief operating officer, and Jonathan Ive, its senior vice president of industrial design.
In a separate statement, the board of Apple said that Mr. Jobs deserved the company’s support during his recuperation and vowed to inform the public if Mr. Jobs tenure at the company was indeed ending. “As we have said before, if there ever comes a day when Steve wants to retire or for other reasons cannot continue to fulfill his duties as Apple’s CEO, you will know it,” the statement read.