Not Much to Talk About



Since the 2011 shareholder meeting GOOG is up about 10%, better than NASDAQ but a far cry from AAPL

Google CEO Larry Page has lost his voice:

Page, who is already well known for his reluctance to speak publicly, skipped today’s annual stockholder meeting. [Chairman Eric] Schmidt was left to explain his absence.

Schmidt said Page would likely miss his next two expected engagements while he is resting his voice: Google I/O — the company’s big three-day developer conference in San Francisco next week — and the company’s quarterly earnings call next month.

It's a tough job managing any company, but keeping the pedal to the metal on several rapidly growing businesses like Google does requires very special leadership. It wouldn't be surprising if the stress and required people-interactions are proving too much for even an introverted genius.

It's already been determined that Larry Page will be incommunicado for another month. With memories of Steve Jobs' health problems---and Apple's silence surrounding them--still fresh, let's hope that the problem is really just his voice.

A look back: I didn't attend this year, but last year's Google shareholder's meeting was tasty and filling.