Edible Apple

The recent hoax involving a fake rumor about Steve Jobs having a heart attack was started by a teenager, according to a recent report from Bloomberg.  Less than a month ago, someone posted a story onto iReport, a user generated news website run by CNN, stating that Steve Jobs had suffered a heart attack and was rushed to the hospital.  Apple’s stock subsequently took a nosedive until Apple representatives dismissed the claim as being false.  Shortly thereafter, the SEC announced that they would be investigating the origin of the false rumor to see if there was any motive of stock manipulation.

Now, it turns out that a mischievous 18 year old was behind the rumor that cut Apple’s market share down by almost 5 billion dollars until the stock rebounded later in the day.  The SEC hasn’t yet said what it plans to do, but the key factor they’ll be looking at in determining whether or not to proceed with a criminal action is the motive behind the false story.

Bloomberg has the full scoop over here.