Reports Of Steve Job’s Heart Attack Are Greatly Exaggerated

Ever since the watching game began on Stevie J’s health after his skinny frame took place on stage during the June WWDC conference, rumors have been fluttering around his supposed death or at least near ready to keel over status. iReport, a community driven content network took that to a new level this morning by propagating a false story on Steve Jobs suffering a heart attack which was picked up by major news outlets such as CNN. Apple has publicly denied Steve Jobs dropping dead and the implications are being taken seriously by the SEC as an attempt at stock manipulation.

iReport has since pulled the story but long before it was plastered around the Apple Blog-o-sphere and the steady wave of denials has yet to fully quell the frantic worry of Steve’s health. However some are believing this was a ploy to reduce Apple’s stock price which inevitably shaved off a few bucks and effectively wipe out 7 Billion dollars from Apple’s market cap. Individual share prices dipped down to the lowest prices the company has seen since April 2007 closing at just under $100.

The SEC is taking this one seriously however. They’re looking into iReport’s intentions of pushing the story, whether or not it was a hoax or vendetta against Apple remains to be seen but knowing the nature of community driven content, errors do pop up that damage a company’s image. This isn’t the first time that Apple has been affected by rumors, however.

Early last year an email was sent to Apple’s internal staff proclaiming the iPhone and Mac OS X Leopard would miss their intended launch dates. Engadget first published the email and effectively wiped out 4 Billion dollars from Apple’s market cap. The story was later pulled but the shares were down by $1.40 at closing time.

Via: Alley insider & Valleywag