Apple’s Jobs to attend Obama meeting — source

WASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO— Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs will attend a meeting in California Thursday with US President Barack Obama, a source familiar with the meeting said. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Google Inc. CEO Eric Schmidt will also attend the meeting, the source told Reuters. The timing of the meeting coincides with a report in the National Enquirer with pictures purporting to be of a frail Jobs arriving at the Stanford Cancer Center. The report is unverified. The report cites doctors, who are not treating Jobs, saying he has six weeks to live based on the photos. Jobs, a pancreatic cancer survivor, stepped away from Apple on medical leave last month. It was the third time in seven years that Jobs has taken leave for health-related reasons. The company has declined to provide any details on his health, comment on the recent reports, or say when he might return from leave. Jobs had surgery in 2004 for an unusual type of tumor on his pancreas called a neuroendocrine tumor. He had a liver transplant in 2009. Chief operating officer Tim Cook is running Apple's day-to-day operations while Jobs is on leave. "I find it puzzling that he would be on campus and 'working' from home if he was that sick," said Peter Misek, an analyst at Jefferies. "Seeing him go into a cancer treatment facility shouldn't be a surprise." Obama is flying to San Francisco later on Thursday. In California, he is meeting with a number of business leaders in technology and innovation at a private residence, the White House said. The White House has been pushing lately to improve its relations with the business community. Since his fellow Democrats were routed in mid-term elections in November, the president has been making a concerted effort to heal a rift with the US corporate community. Thursday's meeting will address issues including how to strengthen the US economy, support entrepreneurship and generate jobs in the United States, the White House said. General Electric Co. CEO Jeffrey Immelt, who was expected to attend, will not be attending, a GE spokesman said. — Reuters