Carl Icahn says stake in Apple is $3 billion as he criticizes board
Activist investor Carl Icahn took to Twitter on Wednesday morning to rattle his saber at Apple in advance of the company’s shareholder meeting next month.
First, Icahn says he’s bought an additional $500 million in Apple stock, bringing his total to $3 billion. Which, it’s worth noting, is still less than 1% of the company’s market cap that was hovering just south of $500 billion on Wednesday.
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But he also made clear he’s not backing down from his campaign to get Apple to boost its stock buyback program.
“We feel $APPL board is doing great disservice to shareholders by not having markedly increased its buyback,” Icahn tweeted. “In-depth letter to follow soon.”
Icahn also couldn’t help but note that Apple’s stock was trading at $468 per share on Aug. 13 when he first revealed his investment. In mid-day trading on Wednesday, Apple’s stock hit $552.02.
He said buying more stock in the company was a “no brainer.”
Icahn had previously filed a shareholder proposal calling on Apple to increase its buyback program. The proposal is not binding on the company and will be voted on by shareholders at the company’s annual meeting on Feb. 28.
Meanwhile, here’s Icahn’s latest tweets:
Since tweeting about our large position in $AAPL on Aug 13, when the stock was 468 per share, we’ve kept buying shares of this ‘no brainer.’— Carl Icahn (@Carl_C_Icahn) January 22, 2014
Having purchased $500 million more $AAPL shares in the last two weeks, our investment has crossed the $3 billion mark yesterday.— Carl Icahn (@Carl_C_Icahn) January 22, 2014
We feel $APPL board is doing great disservice to shareholders by not having markedly increased its buyback. In-depth letter to follow soon.— Carl Icahn (@Carl_C_Icahn) January 22, 2014
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