Jobs to Be Named Apple Chairman, Newspaper Says

Troubled Apple Computer Inc., reaching back to its past in the hope of ensuring its future, plans to name charismatic co-founder Steve Jobs chairman, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Tuesday.

Apple intends to make the announcement next week as Jobs gives the keynote talk at the Macworld Expo trade show in Boston, the newspaper said.

The Chronicle cited several unnamed sources in its story, which appeared on its Web site and was to appear in Wednesday’s editions. Macworld magazine also reported in its online edition that Jobs would become Apple’s chairman.

However, sources also said that Jobs’ appointment is not assured, pointing to the company’s history of changing plans at the last minute.

Jobs, reached at his Palo Alto home, had no comment when asked about the report. Apple spokeswoman Katie Cotton said the company “absolutely cannot comment on rumors.”

If Jobs is named chairman, it would end some of the speculation about who will lead Apple after this month’s ouster of Gil Amelio as chairman and chief executive. Amelio, hired 18 months earlier, reorganized Apple, but the company’s fortunes continued to erode.

The Chronicle report did not say whom Apple had chosen as chief executive or if it had made a decision about that position.

It was not clear if Jobs would continue to run Pixar, the animation studio that made the film “Toy Story.”

Jobs, who had left Apple in 1985, recently returned as an advisor after the company’s bought his Next Software Inc. so as to use its technology in the new Mac operating system.

Jobs, who founded Cupertino-based Apple with pal Steve Wozniak in 1976, is known largely for his vision and ability to both drive and inspire employees and customers.