October 3rd, 2008
Fake “Steve Jobs Heart Attack” Story Causes Apple Stock to Plummet
By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews
A false report on CNN’s new social news site, iReport, caused Apple stock to plummet on Friday morning. The site allows users to post unvetted, unfiltered stories, and a report of a massive heart attack suffered by Steve Jobs caused the drop (as you can see above).
Apple spokeswoman Katie Cotton said, plain and simple:
“It is not true.”
This was a major failure on the part of CNN’s new site, which is still in beta, but it’s also likely to call into question “citizen journalism” period. iReport allows content to appear immediately on that site, and report deemed newsworthy are then posted on the iReport page on CNN.com. This story has since been removed. It read:
Steve Jobs was rushed to the ER just a few hours ago after suffering a major heart attack. I have an insider who tells me that paramedics were called after Steve claimed to be suffering from severe chest pains and shortness of breath. My source has opted to remain anonymous, but he is quite reliable. I haven’t seen anything about this anywhere else yet, and as of right now, I have no further information, so I thought this would be a good place to start. If anyone else has more information, please share it.
Steve Jobs’ health has been the source of much investor and analyst concern since he appeared rather gaunt and ill at WWDC in June. Jobs’ has suffered from pancreatic cancer in the past.
Still, Jobs has been good-humored about it, going so far as to post the following slide (below) during the recent Apple “Let’s Rock” event.
And it appears that rumors of this heart attack have been greatly exaggerated, as well.
What is interesting is that this reporter (and I wouldn’t be surprised if he disappears from the site soon) has no history of iReports (now that the story has been pulled down, anyway). The drop in stock made for a nice price point to jump in. The story’s timing was perfect: 6 AM PDT, just prior to market open.
Due to this, I would be surprised if there wasn’t an SEC investigation. Hang onto that IP address info, CNN! Apple stock has since recovered.
Don Schaaf says:
I’m sorry if I offend anyone with this comment, but - that’s the biggest problem with the American stock market. It is often guided by rumors, innuendos and gossip. None of which should affect how a stock does. I mean, if Mr. Jobs were to die, what would that have to do with how well Apple performs on the market. I just don’t get it, I guess.
October 3rd, 2008 at 4:06 pm
Mumblix Grumph says:
I think this has less to do with the stock market than it does with the “Cult Of Steve”.
October 4th, 2008 at 4:05 am