In an error that could have cost Apple investors millions of dollars the Bloomberg financial newswire accidentally published a 17-page obituary of Apple CEO Steve Jobs on Wednesday.
Bloomberg dispatched the Apple supremo to the hereafter with the obit inadvertently published during an update, gossip blog Gawker reported on Thursday. The short-lived homage – quickly pulled – contained a heartwarming tribute from Bill Gates who described Jobs as the best inspirational leader he’d ever met, while the man himself is quoted as saying: “Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me to make the big choices in life.”
Bloomberg released a retraction later on Wednesday that made only the vaguest of reference to the content of the gaffe. “An incomplete story referencing Apple was inadvertently published,” the retraction read. “The item was never meant for publication and has been retracted.”
Apple’s Nasdaq stock plunged nearly 2% when rumours of Jobs’ ill-health surfaced when people started reporting about his gaunt appearance recently.
