News has surfaced about Steve Jobs' recent bout with cancer that has some miffed.

In 2004, Saint Steve was diagnosed with Pancreatic cancer. For a period of nine months, the Apple CEO withheld information about his condition before finally undergoing surgery to remove the tumor and successfully eliminating the cancer from his body.

Given the influence Jobs has on Apple's direction and its ultimate value, an interesting question is raised. Where does the CEO's power end and the shareholder's right to know begin?

06 Mar 2008

On one hand, it seems a bit cruel to force a man to share his health problems with the world. If you're going through a life or death battle, do you really want an army of news sites and blogs chronicling your treatment day in and day out? Surely, the man deserves his privacy.

On the other hand, what happens if Jobs dies? Surely, Apple's stock would take a formidable hit , and had the company willfully refused to disclose a condition that would have affected shareholders, there could be some legal issues.

It leaves an interesting question. In this era where there is increasing scrutiny on the behavior of executives, where does the individual's right to privacy end and the shareholder's right to know begin?