Concerns grew Friday about the health of
Google head Larry Page after it was announced that he would be
missing some key corporate events in the coming weeks.
Page, 39, missed Google's annual general meeting earlier this
week, because, according to the company, he had lost his voice.
However, the announcement that Page would also miss a crucial
Google developers' conference next week as well as its second quarter
earnings call set for next month prompted speculation that his health
problems may be more serious.
The case also prompted comparisons with Apple's handling of Steve
Jobs' health problems, in which it gave out only the barest details
of the medical conditions that eventually caused his death last year.
JP Morgan analyst Doug Anmuth on Friday pondered to clients
whether or not the CEO's health problem was being downplayed by
Google.
"Co-founder and CEO Larry Page was not present at the shareholder
meeting," Anmuth wrote in a note to investors on Friday which was
quoted on the website BGR.com. "Google indicated that he had lost his
voice and was unable to speak at the meeting, and also that he would
not be speaking at next week's Google I/O developer conference or the
company's 2Q earnings call."
The analyst continued, "We have no specific reason to think there
is anything more to Larry's condition, but we find it odd that the
company would already rule him out of the 2Q call which is likely
still a few weeks away. We think this could raise some questions
among investors. We note that Larry does not appear to have posted on
Google+ since May 25."
