Apple’s Steve Jobs wrongly reported dead

The Bloomberg financial newswire has wrongly reported the death of Apple CEO Steve Jobs.

Bloomberg updated a 17-page Steve Jobs obituary to be used at the time of the sad event in the future, but then wrongly distributed it over the wires.

Whilst Jobs did overcome pancreatic cancer in 2004, and his recent weight loss and gaunt appearance has caused some concern in the media, Bloomberg was quick to realise its mistake.

"An incomplete story referencing Apple was inadvertently published by Bloomberg News at 4:27pm New York time today [27 August]. The item was never meant for publication and has been retracted," Bloomberg said matter of factly.

Newspapers and newswires regularly update obituaries on important people, to enable them to speedily publish an obit when the time comes.

Gawker.com managed to save the Jobs obituary before it was pulled by Bloomberg.