true true 0 <img class='left' src='/shared_assets/images/0001/8468/jobs_large.jpg'/>In Silicon Valley news, the <i>Wall Street Journal</i> reports that Apple CEO Steve Jobs has been grounded for the first half of the year. His private Gulfstream, which is traditionally transportation of choice for the technology pioneer, has not been in use since 2008. Apple says in a regulatory filing that it didn’t reimburse the CEO for use of his Gulfstream during the first three months of the year, and only $4,000 for the previous six months. Compare that with last year, when Jobs was reimbursed $30,000 for the first quarter, and $580,000 for the previous six months. The reason for the sudden drop-off in reimbursements is that Jobs hasn't been traveling. He missed a trip to China to negotiate personally for Apple’s first iPhone distribution deal in the world’s biggest cellphone market. He also wasn’t onboard for inspections with Apple’s Asian manufacturing partners to analyze the new Mac computers and iPods the company began selling over the last few months. Jobs has been on a medical leave of absence, announced in January. To date, Apple execs have said only that they are looking forward to Jobs’s return to work in June. Apple reports other reasons for the jet budget to be down: that $580,000 period in 2008 would have occurred during the manufacturing point of the iPhone 3G, and since most of the focus has been on software of late, traveling beyond borders is less necessary. As a means of improving a company's carbon footprint, many business are under a little more scrutiny and pressure in this economy; teleconferencing is being heralded as a next-best-thing alternative to flying to meetings across the world. Apple insists this is a key factor in their curbing of Jobs's jet. 2009-04-29T20:29:49Z 0 true 2101 false false 2009-04-29T20:13:00Z true true steve-jobs-grounds-his-private-jet false 0

Article 2009-05-04T04:23:48Z 1194 1035