Steve Jobs went to Switzerland for cancer treatment in 2009 - report

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
When he took his last medical leave of absence from Apple in 2009, company co-founder Steve Jobs went to Switzerland seeking treatment for cancer, according to a new report.



Doron Levin, contributing to Fortune on Tuesday, revealed Jobs' unpublicized flight to Switzerland from 2009. The details were shared off the record, by Apple director Jerry York, who died in March of 2010.



Jobs allegedly went to the University of Basel for an "unusual radiological treatment" for neuroendocrine cancer. Experts say the five-year survival rate for such cancer is between 55 percent and 57 percent -- a rate much improved from when Jobs was originally diagnosed with cancer in 2004.



"York told me about the treatment, which was not available in the U.S., in the context of our discussions about Jobs, his health and Apple's future," Levin wrote. "Under our agreement at the time, York wanted the facts of Jobs's treatment in Switzerland to remain out of the news. He didn't say whether the board knew of it. (With York's death, the off-the-record agreement is no longer in place.)"



Jobs did not reveal the reason for his medical leave of absence this week, but he issued a note to employees in which he said he will remain the company's chief executive and will be involved in all major strategic decisions in his time away. Jobs also reiterated his belief that his health is a private matter.



"I love Apple so much and hope to be back as soon as I can," the CEO wrote. "In the meantime, my family and I would deeply appreciate respect for our privacy."



Despite Jobs' requests, details about his health continue to emerge from a variety of sources. In 2008, a personal phone call from Jobs to a reporter with The New York Times revealed that the CEO did not have a recurrence of cancer at the time, though precise details of that conversation were kept off the record.



And in 2009, it took two months for The Wall Street Journal to uncover that Jobs had had liver transplant surgery during his time away from Apple. Soon after receiving his transplant, Jobs returned to work and led his company to its greatest success ever.



This week, an anonymous source told The New York Times that Jobs had been on a "down cycle" recently, and was looking "increasingly emaciated." That person indicated that Jobs was only coming into the office about two days per week, and would frequently eat lunch in his office rather than in the company cafeteria.



Though he is private about his health, Jobs did use his experience to push an organ donor registry in the state of California, requiring residents to accept or decline the option of becoming an organ donor when they renew their drivers licenses. And after he returned to work in 2009, Jobs publicly spoke about how he was given the liver of a person who died in a car crash in their mid-20s.



"I am alive because of their generosity," he said at an iPod-centric keynote in September 2009. "I hope we can all be that generous."
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 79
    iliveriliver Posts: 299member
    Apple secrets- neverending story.
  • Reply 2 of 79
    The world, and especially the tech world, would be a much less interesting place without Steve kicking around.
  • Reply 3 of 79
    macrulezmacrulez Posts: 2,455member
    deleted
  • Reply 4 of 79
    Okay, so cancer treatment in aught nine.



    Would he have been given the liver if it was still present in 2010?
  • Reply 5 of 79
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,192member
    With so much money riding on Jobs' health, I'd think at least a few people are paid to track his every move. Reporters (and hence the general public) just don't have access to this information.
  • Reply 6 of 79
    Jesus Christ, is there no sense of propriety anymore? Give Steve a friggin' break already.
  • Reply 7 of 79
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    "increasingly emaciated."



    Thats a very serious statement. Jobs should just leave Apple quit the Buddhism give his heart to Yeshua HaMaschiach and enjoy his family, and reflect on all his great work at Apple & pixar. Cause it sounds like his hour has come



    Quote:

    "I am alive because of their generosity," he said at an iPod-centric keynote in September 2009. "I hope we can all be that generous."



    How about He & Apple live up to there comments and generously lower the price on the core2duo products.
  • Reply 8 of 79
    mazda 3smazda 3s Posts: 1,613member
    I understand that Steve is the figurehead for Apple, but this constant prying into his personal affairs is borderline creepy to me.
  • Reply 9 of 79
    ssquirrelssquirrel Posts: 1,196member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MacRulez View Post


    So much for Steve's wish to have his privacy respected....



    I'm sure some will say his request for privacy was directly related to his new leave of absence, not something that happened 2 years ago. 18 million articles about every angle of his health does get more than a bit weird tho
  • Reply 10 of 79
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MacRulez View Post


    So much for Steve's wish to have his privacy respected....



    I would like AI to give me a filter to hide all news/rumors/hearsay about Steve Jobs. Thanks!
  • Reply 11 of 79
    hoganhogan Posts: 94member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SpamSandwich View Post


    Jesus Christ, is there no sense of propriety anymore? Give Steve a friggin' break already.



    As CEO of Apple, he is beholden to Apple shareholders. He works for us. He remains CEO of Apple. Shareholders have a right to know more information. It's material. If Steve resigned, then his health and what he does as private citizen is entirely his matter, and of no consequence. Apple's board is failing to represent Apple shareholders.
  • Reply 12 of 79
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by debusoh View Post


    The world, and especially the tech world, would be a much less interesting place without Steve kicking around.



    he should be put in a memorial in washington DC for future generations after his eventuality.
  • Reply 13 of 79
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MobileMe View Post


    How about He & Apple live up to there comments and generously lower the price on the core2duo products.



    Come. On. Seriously? This is simple economics. You don't like it, don't buy it. The company will be forced to change or go under. Thanks for corrupting his words.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Mazda 3s View Post


    I understand that Steve is the figurehead for Apple, but this constant prying into his personal affairs is borderline creepy to me.



    *nod of approval*



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Hogan View Post


    As CEO of Apple, he is beholden to Apple shareholders. He works for us. He remains CEO of Apple. Shareholders have a right to know more information. It's material. If Steve resigned, then his health and what he does as private citizen is entirely his matter, and of no consequence. Apple's board is failing to represent Apple shareholders.



    He told us he was sick. That's. All. Shareholders. Need. To. Know. That he told us he was sick is an improvement over his old ways, for certain.
  • Reply 14 of 79
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MobileMe View Post


    Thats a very serious statement. Jobs should just leave Apple quit the Buddhism give his heart to Yeshua HaMaschiach and enjoy his family, and reflect on all his great work at Apple & pixar. Cause it sounds like his hour has come







    How about He & Apple live up to there comments and generously lower the price on the core2duo products.



    Wow... there are jerks and there are insensitive jerks. You IMO are both!
  • Reply 15 of 79
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Mazda 3s View Post


    I understand that Steve is the figurehead for Apple, but this constant prying into his personal affairs is borderline creepy to me.



    Yes. Makes me sick at heart to read this stuff. So why do I read it? Concern. But all you have to do is read this column and you'll understand why Steve wants to NOT talk about this stuff. It gets really maudlin really fast.
  • Reply 16 of 79
    mac_dogmac_dog Posts: 1,069member
    my prediction:



    steve jobs has paid some medical facility (years ago—in some country other than the u.s.—obviously) to create a new liver via stem cell and is actually going to have it replace the one he has currently.
  • Reply 17 of 79
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Hogan View Post


    As CEO of Apple, he is beholden to Apple shareholders. He works for us. He remains CEO of Apple. Shareholders have a right to know more information. It's material. If Steve resigned, then his health and what he does as private citizen is entirely his matter, and of no consequence. Apple's board is failing to represent Apple shareholders.



    if most of apple's shareholders hold this view, i do think they have the very right to dump apple's stock, and they should do this or they should have not gotten into apple's bandwagon to push the stock this high.
  • Reply 18 of 79
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Hogan View Post


    As CEO of Apple, he is beholden to Apple shareholders. He works for us. He remains CEO of Apple. Shareholders have a right to know more information. It's material. If Steve resigned, then his health and what he does as private citizen is entirely his matter, and of no consequence. Apple's board is failing to represent Apple shareholders.



    The apple board has made it's shareholders quite a bit of money and it appears that will continue given apples obvious momentum. Other companies board of directors should fail to represent their companies in a similar fashion.
  • Reply 19 of 79
    dualiedualie Posts: 334member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post




    Doron Levin, contributing to Fortune on Tuesday, revealed Jobs' unpublicized flight to Switzerland from 2009. The details were shared off the record, by Apple director Jerry York, who died in March of 2010.




    So much for integrity and ethics. Journalism really has gone to hell.
  • Reply 20 of 79
    anonymouseanonymouse Posts: 6,857member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Hogan View Post


    As CEO of Apple, he is beholden to Apple shareholders. He works for us. He remains CEO of Apple. Shareholders have a right to know more information. It's material. If Steve resigned, then his health and what he does as private citizen is entirely his matter, and of no consequence. Apple's board is failing to represent Apple shareholders.



    Apple shareholders have a right to hold or sell their stock based on what information they have. They don't have a right to "more information" than is required by law. Are you suggesting that every CEO in America ought to be required by law to release a medical status update each day to let us know about the mole they had removed or that they had an unpleasant bowel movement (or not)?
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