Shareholders Slam Jobs for Stock Drop

Vendor?s shareholders accuse adviser of lack of faith in firm after registering to offload his $1.5 million share of Apple

Apple consultant Steve Jobs appeared to distance himself from the manufacturer when he registered to offload all but one of his 1.5 million shares in the firm.

In documents filed with the US Securities & Exchange Commission last week, Apple registered to sell the 1.5 million shares acquired by Jobs as part of the company?s takeover of his Next Software company in February. The shares make up about 1.19 per cent of outstanding stock and would raise up to $25 million if they were sold.

But the registration left Apple shareholders confused and annoyed at what many saw as a lack of faith from Jobs in the vendor?s future. One investor said: ?Jobs? timing is an affront to us long-time shareholders and equals the greed initially shown by [Apple CEO Gil] Amelio.?

In a reply to concerned shareholders, an Apple representative said: ?Jobs has not sold his shares ... this was simply a registration of his Apple shares, not any type of announcement that he had sold or was going to sell them.?

But another representative refused to rule out the sale of the shares, insisting that it was up to Jobs to comment on his intentions. Jobs refused to comment.

The authors of the Apple Recon investors? bulletin board blasted both Jobs and Apple bosses for not killing outright speculation that the company?s co-founder and high-profile adviser might be cashing in his shares. Apple Recon members are already predicting that third quarter results will be considerably worse than the currently forecast of $120 million, pushing it up as high as $400 million.

When Jobs was ousted from Apple in the 1980s, he disposed of his entire stock in the company with the exception of a single share.