The teenager who submitted a fake story to CNN's iReport about Steve Jobs appears to have stayed away from the stock market that day, according to a report.
(Credit: James Martin/CNET News)The fake story submitted to CNN's iReport site that Apple CEO Steve Jobs had suffered a heart attack was the work of an 18-year-old, according to a report.
Bloomberg is reporting that investigators have determined that the teenager planted the story on CNN's user-generated news site. But they have found no evidence that the suspect attempted to profit from the sharp drop in Apple's stock that occurred after Silicon Alley Insider picked up the CNN posting and published it before verifying whether it was true. The suspect was not named, but the Securities and Exchange Commission has been trying to determine if the story was planted with the idea of making money in the stock market, which would be a crime.
Apple has been forced to deal with all kinds of speculation regarding Jobs' health this year, and any report that his health might be in danger is sure to be met with a frantic response from Wall Street traders who believe Jobs' impact on Apple cannot be overstated.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs did not suffer a heart attack Friday morning, as was briefly reported by CNN.
(Credit: James Martin/CNET News)Apple has denied a rumor posted on CNN's iReport page that Steve Jobs suffered a heart attack Friday morning.
The unsubstantiated rumor, posted on the "citizen journalism" section of CNN called iReport, caused a sharp drop in Apple's stock price around 7 a.m. PDT before company representatives were able to deny the charge. Blogs such as Silicon Alley Insider initially published the rumor as written on CNN with the 21st century fig leaf--a question mark at the end of the headline--but updated its story after hearing from Apple representatives. CNN has since removed the post in question.
It's not hard to imagine this was a brazen attempt to move Apple's stock price to someone's benefit, and an investigation will probably follow. The episode is eerily similar to one last year in which Engadget was sent a fake e-mail claiming to be from an Apple employee that the release of the iPhone and Mac OS X Leopard had been delayed. And it also smacks of the "hedge fund sources" quoted by the media earlier this year questioning Jobs' health based on his appearance.
Updated: Courtesy of our friends at ZDNet, here's a screen grab of the actual post that appeared on CNN's iReport site.
(Credit:
ZDNet)
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