Steve Jobs meet Obama? Paper claims cancer-stricken Apple boss Cancer-stricken-Apple-boss
Brave Steve Jobs was due to meet President Obama today just hours after the Apple boss was revealed to have lost an alarming amount of weight and is apparently sicker than has been previously admitted.
The computer genius is expected to join Facebook founder Mark Zuckerburg and Google CEO Eric Schmidt at a private meeting in Silicon Valley to discuss the President's technology policies.
It comes as shocking new pictures of the 55-year-old were published in the supermarket tabloid the National Enquirer.
Since then, Apple employees have claimed that he can still be seen at the company's headquarters in California and is also calling all the strategic shots from his home.
But the new photographs suggest things are worse than Apple would have the world believe.
The Enquirer claims that the man behind the iPod, iPhone and iPad is stricken with pancreatic cancer and may have just six weeks to live.
The new photos show Mr Jobs looking painfully frail and weak, with his jeans and dark top hanging loosely on his 6ft 2in, rail-thin body.
However, he is well enough to meet today with Barack Obama in San Francisco.
The president is visiting Intel Corp to draw attention to the role of education in preparing Americans for new high-tech jobs.
'The President and the business leaders will discuss our shared goal of promoting American innovation, and discuss his commitment to new investments in research and development, education and clean energy,' the White House said.
The graphic images appear to have had a small impact on Apple's share price which today opened down slightly at 357.05.
Mr Jobs's weight is said to have dropped from a pre-cancer 175lb to 130lb now, according to the National Enquirer.
His thinning hair is a sign of the effects of the advanced chemotherapy usually used to treat the disease.
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The photos, which were taken on February 8, showed Mr Jobs going for breakfast with his wife Laurene Powell before heading to the Stanford Cancer Centre in California.
STEVE JOBS: A TIMELINE
* February 24, 1955: Born in San Francisco, California
* 1976: After dropping out of college, he founds Apple with Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne
* 1985: Forced out of Apple and starts the NeXT Corporation
* 1996: Returns to his old company when Apple buys NeXT and soon becomes its CEO
* 2004: Diagnosed with pancreatic cancer
* Late 2008: Has liver transplant as part of treatment for pancreatic cancer
* Early 2009: Takes six months off to recuperate
* January 2011: Announces he is taking a third leave of absence for medical reasons
Dr Jerome Spunberg said: 'Mr Jobs is most likely getting outpatient chemotherapy at Stanford because the cancer has recurred.'
Dr Gabe Mirkin, a physician with 40 years' experience, said: 'He is terminal. What you are seeing is extreme muscle wasting from calorie deprivation, most likely caused by cancer. He has no muscle left in his buttocks, which is the last place to go.
'He definitely appears to be in the terminal stages of his life from these photos. I would be surprised if he weighed more than 130lb.'
Critical care physician Dr Samuel Jacobson also told the Enquirer: 'Judging from the photos, he is close to terminal. I would say he has six weeks.
Only about 4 per cent of patients with any form of pancreatic cancer live longer than five years, the Enquirer reports.
Actor Patrick Swayze died in September 2009 of the same disease. Like Mr Jobs, he bravely fought it and worked on his memoirs right up until his death.
Medical experts, however, say Mr Jobs's disease is a much slower moving form of cancer than the type that killed the popular star of movies such as Dirty Dancing and Ghost.
The photos were published a day after Apple unveiled its new subscription policy which enables newspaper and magazine publishers to sell subscriptions by the week, month, year or other period of time, instead of asking readers to buy each issue separately.
The extra convenience should help publishers sell more digital copies as they look to smartphones and tablet computers to replace some of the revenue that has been lost in recent years as readers and advertisers migrate from print editions.
Mr Jobs put out a statement yesterday saying: 'We believe that this innovative subscription service will provide publishers with a brand new opportunity to expand digital access to their content onto the iPad, iPod touch and iPhone, delighting both new and existing subscribers.'
Mail Online last week reported how Apple had almost $10billion wiped off its value in just four minutes after investors took a bite out of the tech giant.
Market analysts blamed the flash plunge on unsubstantiated rumours that Apple founder Steve Jobs was in hospital.
An Apple spokesman did not comment on the new photos.
'He is emaciated and looks to have lost a lot of muscle mass, which spells a poor prognosis.'
A source who recently saw Mr Jobs added: 'He is very frail, moving like a weak, feeble old man.'
'He weaves back and forth when he walks, as if he is having trouble keeping his balance, and the pain of every step is evident on his face.'
The Apple CEO, who is worth $6billion, is putting up an amazingly brave battle and even did a full day's work on February 7, the day before he went to the Cancer Centre.
He is determined to continue with plans to build a new $8million home after finally winning permission to demolish his home in Woodside, California, following a ten-year battle with preservationists.
Mr Jobs, who is currently on his third medical leave, has battled a rare form of pancreatic cancer for seven years and had a liver transplant in 2009.
He travelled to Switzerland that year for treatments unavailable in the U.S.
For people like me, and the other 28 million living with cancer, people like Steve Jobs are incredible role models. When I was undergoing chemotherapy three years ago, I was often tempted to think “why me?” But then I asked myself, “Why Steve Jobs? Why Lance Armstrong?” And I reflected on the remarkable things that they went on to achieve after their treatment. Their inspirational example helped me more than I can say.
None of us are immune from occasional sickness. One in six people globally will be diagnosed with cancer at some stage in their life. (One in three in the US.) All of us need to be given the space to get well, in our own way, and with the help of qualified medical professionals.
If you know someone who is living with cancer, the best way to help them is to focus on the positives, give them the space to tell you as much or as little as they choose, and be open minded about what they are able to achieve.
2011 promises to be another amazing year for Apple. Let’s focus on that and and leave the oncology to the professionals.
When someone is not well, the last thing they need is a lot of people making a fuss about it. And if someone chooses to keep their health matters to themselves, their wishes should be respected. No one has a right to know about anyone else’s medical condition.
Discussing someone’s health status in public, and speculating about their prognosis is disrespectful, and unnecessarily negative.
When I got sick and underwent chemo, I was fortunate in that I was able to continue my day job, managing a small business. What made this possible for me was the strength, positive thinking and encouragement of my family, friends and colleagues around me, who were open-minded enough to focus on what I could do, rather than on what I could not.