The Most Valuable Asset at Apple Is...

The new MacBooks? No. The Apple TV? Not at all! Not even the iPhone or the best-seller known as iPod? Nope, not even close! So, what's the driving force behind Apple? What's the factor that keeps the company floating, but it can also lead to a quick downfall? Ladies and gentlemen, it's the iSteve!

Well, its name is Steven Paul Jobs, but he could change it soon to "iSteve", if he's fine with that, because all that he accomplished allows him to do that. Steve Jobs is the co-founder and CEO of Apple, and until Disney acquired Pixar, he was Pixar's CEO. Currently, he is the largest shareholder at Disney and a member of Disney's Board of Directors as a consequence, but we're talking about Apples here, so let's get back to them...

According to a report published yesterday by Bloomberg, Apple's most valuable asset can't be protected through patents and secrecy, because we're talking about its CEO, Steve Jobs! The analysts say that if Steve leaves Apple, their shares may drop 25 percent or even more, representing a drop of 20 billion dollars in Apple's market value.

Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster said that Steve leaving Apple "would be a disaster", and that the man "would be almost impossible to replace". Should we be amazed by this? After all, facts speak for themselves - Steve returned to Apple in 1997 and in less than a decade he changed everything, and in the next 2-3 years we'll see Apple going higher and higher, pushed forward by the creative force called Steve Jobs.

If you're an Apple shareholder, it seems there's only one concern you should have in the future. You don't have to worry about Apple's capability of holding its position on the market and climbing up, all you have to do is pray that Steve Jobs doesn't leave!