Steve Jobs Had Liver Transplant, Going Back to Work
The mystery of Apple CEO Steve Jobs' health status has been solved. Jobs underwent a liver transplant earlier this spring and is now recovering at home. He is expected to return to his duties at Apple at the end of the month.
Steve Jobs, who has been on medical leave from Apple Inc. since January to treat an undisclosed medical condition, received a liver transplant in Tennessee about two months ago. The chief executive has been recovering well and is expected to return to work on schedule later this month, though he may work part-time initially.
Mr. Jobs didn't respond to an email requesting comment. "Steve continues to look forward to returning at the end of June, and there's nothing further to say," said Apple spokeswoman Katie Cotton.
When he does return, Mr. Jobs may be encouraged by his physicians to initially "work part-time for a month or two," a person familiar with the thinking at Apple said. That may lead Tim Cook, Apple's chief operating officer, to take "a more encompassing role," this person said. The person added that Mr. Cook may be appointed to Apple's board in the not-too-distant future.
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The specifics of Mr. Jobs's surgery couldn't be established, but according to the United Network for Organ Sharing, which manages the transplant network in the U.S., there are no residency requirements for transplants. Having the procedure done in Tennessee makes sense because its list of patients waiting for transplants is shorter than in many other states. According to data provided by UNOS, in 2006, the median number of days from joining the liver waiting list to transplant was 306 nationally. In Tennessee, it was 48 days.
Experts consulted by The Wall Street Journal said that it has not conclusively been established that getting a liver will keep pancreatic cancer (such as the kind Jobs' had) from spreading, but also said that recovery from liver transplant is relatively quick compared to other types of transplant operations.
