In the financial world, it truly is amazing how quickly a rumor can gain traction and affect reality, even if the story turns out to only be speculation.
Early on Tuesday morning, a two-week-old rumor began to develop some serious momentum. A number of media outlets reported that Apple (News - Alert) Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook was considering making the move to Hewlett Packard to become the computer giant’s CEO, filling the seat left vacant by Mark Hurd, who is now the chief officer at Oracle (News - Alert).
Although a number of analysts immediately dismissed the rumor, noting that they severely doubted that Cook would leave Apple, hundreds of investors tried to get ahead of the story. Apple’s stock prices dropped by almost 6 percent soon after the reports of Cook’s possibly departure hit the wire. Meanwhile, HP’s stock rose about 1 percent during the same period.
Unfortunately for those investors, the rumors turned out to be just that—rumors. Brian Marshall, an analyst with Gleacher and Co., had a cup of coffee with Cook on Tuesday and found out the Apple COO has no plans to make the move to HP.
"Tim Cook will not be going to HP," Marshall told Barron's. "He loves Apple."
While most industry experts spent the better part of Tuesday arguing whether Cook would consider leaving Apple, most agreed that he would undoubtedly help HP develop some much-needed stability.
When Apple CEO Steve Jobs (News - Alert) took a leave of absence in 2009, Cook stepped in and helped the company launch several key products, including the iPhone 3GS. Apple recently gave Cook a $22 million bonus for his efforts, according to Apple Insider. Several other technology giants including Dell (News - Alert) and Motorola have tried to pull Cook away from Apple in the last few years.
Apple’s stock prices leveled out soon after the rumors of Cook’s departure were dispelled.
Beecher Tuttle is a Web Editor for TMCnet. He has extensive experience writing and editing for print publications and online news websites. He has specialized in a variety of industries, including health care technology, politics and education. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.
Edited by Erin Monda