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Should Google's CEO reveal his mystery illness?
Tue, 26th Jun 2012
FYI, this story is more than a year old

Questions are being raised in Silicon Valley about a mystery illness that is thought to be ailing Google CEO and co-founder Larry Page.

The 39-year-old missed the company’s annual meeting last week, and Google has indicated he will miss two other engagements – Google’s software developer’s conference and its second-quarter earnings call – in the next month.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt told last week’s meeting that Page can’t attend public speaking engagements as he has ‘lost his voice’, but confirmed Page is continuing to run the company.

That statement was followed up by an email to employees from Page stating that ‘there is nothing seriously wrong with me’.

However, analysts and investors are looking for more reassurance. One analyst, Doug Anmuth, noted that Page hadn’t updated his Google+ page since late May; Page has since made a post acknowledging what would have been the 100th birthday of computing legend Alan Turing.

At least the speculation isn’t doing any harm to Google’s share price, which is currently up 1.11% to US$571.48.

Should Page reveal more about his illness, or should investors and analysts respect his privacy? Post your comments below.