Some companies are linked forever to their founders. A century after Henry Ford rolled his first automobiles off the assembly line, Ford Motor Company is still associated with its founding father. Bill Gates and Paul Allen are the men behind Microsoft. The legacy of their rival, Steve Jobs, is Apple. When the face of a person also becomes the face of a firm, the company can benefit from the good publicity that a personal image provides. But a founder's fate can dramatically affect the health of the firm as well, as in the case of Steve Jobs.

Does the public have the right to be fully informed when a key executive is seriously ill and/or takes a medical leave, argue your answer?