Is Jobs’ health any of our business?

Yes/no.

First, let’s get this out of the way, courtesy of BusinessWeek’s Senior Technology Writer, Arik Hesseldahl:

After the earnings call last night I talked with a source who is close to Apple and who who has in the past proven very well informed on the concerns of Apple senior management. This source told me with near-certainty that Jobs' cancer has not returned.

And now, exhale.

Okay investors, you can buy Apple stock again.

Hesseldahl penned a piece at BusinessWeek, after speaking on Fox Business News, referring to the fears about Steve Jobs’ health as “overblown,” and calling “incorrect” shareholders’ factoring of these fears into Apple’s stock price. He believes the extent of the health issue is an irrational buildup of FUD, similar to the inflated concern surrounding Jobs’ complicity in the options-backdating scandal.

We all know and understand Steve’s importance to Apple-some say he is Apple-and there’s no doubt that Jobs leaving the company would send its stock plummeting so fast it’d need a heat shield to prevent it from incinerating. So that raises the question: How much of Steve’s personal health should be disclosed publicly, and who gets to make that call?

Hasseldahl, of course, has an answer (I wouldn’t be writing this if he didn’t): Yes, information about his health should be disclosed to the shareholders-but only if his health conditions threaten his job performance or foreseeable future in the company; and the board’s three-member compensation committee should be slated with identifying and assessing the concerns.

Apple didn’t do that when Jobs was diagnosed with-and treated for-pancreatic cancer, so it’s understandable that investors are suspicious; after all, trust is the foundation of all healthy (no pun intended) relationships. That, combined with Jobs’ perceived importance to the company and the lack of a clear, visibly-capable successor make investment hawks question Apple’s ability to maintain its current profit momentum.

But those who know Apple aren’t so unsettled. For the past decade, Jobs has built for Apple a team of talented individuals he trusts to run the company and sustain its ability to innovate. Jobs is only one man-and brilliant though he may be, he is far from the only man responsible for Apple’s success. And I don’t doubt Apple, with its corporate culture and strong, focused leadership, can be successful without him.

Now, please post in the comments how much you agree with me.