October 24th, 2008
SEC: 18-year-old responsible for fake Jobs heart attack story
The Securities and Exchange Commission says it was an 18-year-old who planted the fake story on CNN’s iReport that Steve Jobs had been rushed to the hospital, Bloomberg reports.
The post:
I have an insider who tells me that paramedics were called after Steve claimed to be suffering from severe chest pains and shortness of breath. My source has opted to remain anonymous, but he is quite reliable.
No final opinion on the teen’s motives, but it looks to me like someone thought that it would be a funny gag. I seriously doubt they will find an attempt to move Apple’s stock price. Thus:
“If the posting wasn’t directly related to the purchase or sale of a security it’s questionable the SEC would have jurisdiction,” [former SEC lawyer Michael Missal] said. “That’s not to say some other agency of the U.S. government couldn’t take action if it felt a law was violated.”
