York: Apple hid Jobs’ reason for leaving Macworld

In newly-published information from the Wall Street Journal, late Apple director Jerome York is revealed to have previously expressed strong negative feelings about the way Apple handled the disclosure of CEO Steve Jobs’ health issues in late 2008. Speaking with the publication late last year, York suggested that Apple had concealed Jobs’ illness from a December 2008 press release announcing that Apple would no longer attend the Macworld Expo trade show, and that Phil Schiller would appear as the keynote presenter for the company’s final presentation there. “Frankly, I wish I had resigned then,” York said, adding that the concealment of Jobs’ health concerns “disgusted” him. York also said that the only reason he didn’t resign at that point was to avoid the uproar that would have occurred once he gave his reason for leaving. Apple subsequently disclosed Jobs’ illness in two January 2009 press releases, the first revealing a mysterious weight loss issue, and the second announcing the CEO’s six-month leave of absence from running the company. Jobs ultimately received a liver transplant that he credited with saving his life.