Chicago (IL) - Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO currently on a six months medical leave, is seeking re-election as board member to the entertainment conglomerate Disney. Ahead of meeting scheduled for March 10, Jobs appears to have already won the support of Disney's CEO Bob Iger who relies on Jobs' knowledge of new media platforms and experience in technological issues. However, Jobs' re-election bid comes in question this time around amid broader concerns that have been surrounding his health in lately and throughout 2008. Jobs' opponents warn that Jobs can't come up for re-election at Disney if he recently stepped down from his daily CEO duties at Apple, citing health issues.

At least that's what Charles Elson, professor of corporate governance at the University of Delaware thinks about Jobs' re-election. The Financial Times cited the professor as saying the following: "A directorship is not an honorary position, If he's said he can't run Apple, how on earth can he [stand for the Disney board again]," he warned. "Non-executive directors of large public companies need to be able to devote at least 250 hours a year to the position."

Jobs is up for re-election at Disney's annual meeting scheduled for March 10. Although Jobs' seat on Disney's board does not come with executive responsibilities, nor does he gets any compensation for it, it is his advisory role to the CEO Bob Iger that matters. In fact, many think that Jobs single-handily helped Disney capitalize on new media platforms. In fact, nobody in Hollywood questions Steve Jobs' influence in the entertainment industry.

Apple's CEO got a seat on Disney's board in 2006 when the entertainment conglomerate acquired Jobs' animation studio Pixar. Prior to the acquisition, there were intense negotiations about extending Pixar's distribution deal with Disney in 2004 which was set to expire soon. The dispute between Jobs and then Disney CEO Michael Eisner practically brought the negotiations to a halt. Jobs tried to cut a deal with other studios but was rejected because studios thought his terms were too demanding. Disney and Pixar would eventually agree, after Eisner stepped down late 2005 and Iger took over as the CEO, that Disney would acquire Pixar.

Terms of the agreement ensure that Pixar remains a separate entity within Disney, with its employment policies and Emeryville, California studio kept intact, in addition to the Pixar name and branding. The acquisition earned Jobs 7% stake in Disney worth more than $4 billion on the ground of his 50.6% ownership in Pixar at the time. Jobs' share of Disney exceeds the combined shares of director emeritus Roy Disney (1%) and ex-CEO Michael Eisner (1.7%).

The fact that today, Steve Jobs is the largest Disney shareholder has boosted his influence in the entertainment and media industries which he successfully leveraged to get content distribution deals for Apple's iTunes Store. Disney has been the first studio to make its movie library available for online rental and purchasing via iTunes Store. Since that deal, Disney has been selling millions of movies and tens of millions of TV shows on the iTunes Store.