Skip Links

Network World

  • Social Web 
  • Email 
  • Close

Report: SEC investigating false Jobs heart attack rumor

By Peter Cohen , Macworld , 10/06/2008
Newsletter Signup
  • Share/Email
  • Tweet This
  • Comment
  • Print

A false report of a Steve Jobs' heart attack that caused Apple's stock to momentarily plunge on Friday has piqued the interest of the Securities & Exchange Commission, according to reports.

Bloomberg reported Monday that the regulatory agency is looking into the heart attack rumor to see if it was posted to affect Apple's stock price.

The rumor first appeared last week on CNN's iReport.com, which features user-generated news reports. Apple responded swiftly on Friday saying that the report was not true, and CNN removed the story from its site. Apple's stock fell nearly 10% in the aftermath of the report before recovering later in the day.

The steep drop has raised some speculation about whether the report was posted to manipulate Apple's stock price. Bloomberg reports that CNN is cooperating with the SEC probe.

An SEC representative contacted by Macworld said that the agency would not confirm its investigation, citing the agency's policy.

The government has taken a hard line on stock manipulation in the past. In August 2000, connectivity manufacturer Emulex watched as its stock shed more than half its value after someone posted a fraudulent press release indicating the company was being investigated by the SEC. An FBI investigation found that the release had been sent out by a former employee of the online wire service; he was sentenced to 44 months in prison and fined $102,642 as well as forced to forfeit any gains from the stock manipulation.

  • Share/Email
  • Tweet This
  • Comment
  • Print
Partner Content

Explore the Ultrium Edge

The powerful tape technology can address data security with tape encryption as well as long term data protection.

Find Out More

Disk and Tape Square Off

Discover what disk and tape really cost and which solution provides lower total cost of ownership and optimizes energy use for your organization

Download this White Paper

Don't Fall for the Myths

The Clipper Group explores the truth behind the myths of tape, digging into the misconceptions in the disk vs. tape debate.

Review this information

information examination

An examination of information security issues, methods and securing data with LTO-4 tape drive encryption

Read this analysis

Comment
Login
Forgot your account info?
Add comment
Anonymous comments subject to approval. Register here for member benefits.
Have a NetworkWorld account? Log in here. Register now for a free account.

Videos

rssRss Feed